German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in the southern Russian holiday resort of Sochi on Monday night for two days of talks on a series of political and economic issues.

They’ll be joined on Tuesday by French president Jacques Chirac who’s currently involved in a crisis management operation to free two French journalists held in Iraq by militants demanding that France end its ban on Muslim headscarves in schools.

The meeting in the Black Sea resort will be the third mini-summit between the leaders of Russia, France and Germany after the emergence of a Moscow-Paris-Berlin axis in the run-up to the war on Iraq. The three nations formed a coalition based on their strong opposition to US-led military intervention in Iraq. This time the gathering which starts on Monday evening is overshadowed by two simultaneous plane crashes in Russia last week.

Russian security officers found traces of explosives on both planes, which makes it likely that the crashes were caused by Chechen terrorists, ahead of Sunday's elections in Chechnya. But German government spokesman Thomas Steg insisted that there’s no reason whatsoever to worry about security at the Sochi meeting.

Security fears allayed

"The Russian president is the host at the Sochi meeting, and we don’t have the slightest doubt that security measures will up to the mark," Steg told DW-RADIO. "The plane crashes in Russia last week which may have had a terrorist background don’t suggest a higher security risk for the mini-summit."

"There have been close contacts between security agents from our nations ahead of the summit, and you can rest assured that everything has been done to plug any potential security gaps so that the summit can go ahead as planned without any changes."

War-zone reconstruction on agenda

The government spokesman added that the gathering will most likely focus on post-war reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but will also deal with a number of European economic issues.

"The Sochi meeting has no fixed agenda. It’s clear that the Russian president has a vested interest in intensifying consultations with the leaders of two major countries within the European Union," Steg said.

"It’s expected that one of the central topics at the meeting will be how to shape the envisaged strategic partnership between Russia and the enlarged European Union with some of Russia’s neighboring countries now also being members of the club of 25."

"It has to be said, though," the spokesman added, "that talks will have an informal character in as far as there will be no official declarations at the end of the summit."

Schröder looks to closer European ties

Schröder, who recently adopted a Russian toddler and who has cultivated close relations with both Putin and Chirac, said earlier this week that relations with Russia were paramount for Europe's future.

"The positive outlook we have for this continent will in the long run only succeed if the European Union gains a truly strategic relationship or partnership with Russia and vice versa," Schröder told RTL television.

Russian president Vladimir Putin is set to push for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to be reformed with a view to strengthening its role as a bridge between the East and the West. The Kremlin attaches great importance to the body as the only organization in which the United States, Russia and the European Union speak on an equal footing. Moscow has had several run-ins with the OSCE of late, claiming that the pan-European body concentrates too much on human rights and too little on security, notably fighting terrorism.

Chechnya and OPEC to be discussed

The OSCE for its part has been at loggerheads with Russia over the Kremlin’s policy in the separatist republic of Chechnya, and the way elections were held there on Sunday will not be conducive to improving this troubled relationship. There are also indications that the leaders of Russia, France and Germany will raise issues related to recent developments on the oil market with prices having been at record highs and worries over future supplies.

Schröder and Putin will be able to continue their dialogue at bilateral government consultations in Hamburg in mid-September. However, Putin will not be made an honorary doctor of Hamburg University as originally planned, because more than 50 doctors had protested against the award, saying that the Russian democracy under Putin was assuming too many authoritarian traits.