EU Delegation In Moscow For Talks With Putin
ROSEMARY CHURCH, WORLD NEWS: Russia's president-elect Vladimir Putin is to meet with European Union officials on Friday. A day earlier, Russia received a sharp reminder of East-West tensions over the Kremlin's war on Chechnya. CNN's Steve Harrigan joins us now from Moscow with more. Steve?</s>STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, that sharp public rebuke came from the Council of Europe's meeting in Strasbourg, and really it led to a dramatic move by the Russian delegation. They decided to walk out of the Council of Europe. They made that walkout only after having their voting rights suspended by the Council of Europe. As a matter of fact, things got so testy in the hallway in the corridor after that walkout, there was a fistfight between a Russian delegate from Dagestan and one of the Chechen representatives. Now, so far, the reaction from the Kremlin has been nothing -- no reaction yet from acting Russian president Vladimir Putin. Mr. Putin spent much of Thursday onboard a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea. Mr. Putin was there to see a ballistic missile test, also for some public relations with the military -- something we've seen a lot of from Mr. Putin lately. He was wearing the navy uniform, the traditional great coat and blue and white striped T-shirt of the sailors. We've seen him in a leather jacket emerge from a Russian military jet during the campaign. So really, another public display of one of Mr. Putin's main goals, something he talks often about, and that is reviving Russia's military might. Now, although Mr. Putin was silent about the Council of Europe's move, there was angry reaction from other Russian politicians. In particular, in the lower house of parliament in the state Duma, here is what the speaker of the Duma, Gennady Seleznyov, had to say.</s>GENNADY SELEZNYOV, CHAIRMAN, RUSSIAN STATE DUMA (through  translator): I believe that the 21st century will be the Russian century. They are just mocking us, and I believe we should just say enough is enough. We will get by without you European teachers.</s>HARRIGAN: Rosemary, despite the angry words, once again, it's important to keep in mind that this is little more than a public rebuke. Although at the same time, it is an embarrassment for Russia's new president-elect Vladimir Putin and for many on the Russian side who've worked hard to get Russia into the Council of Europe. They just became members in 1996, and now that very membership is threatened. Rosemary?</s>CHURCH: Steve, can we look now at that meeting Friday with the European Union officials. What's expected to come out of that?</s>HARRIGAN: Well, that meeting is supposed to take place about four hours from now, and that might be a lot calmer than the scene we saw in Strasbourg Thursday. Mr. Putin is meeting with three of the top leaders from the European Union. Basically, Russia is in a very difficult spot right now. The population and the military still want the military action in Chechnya to continue. But it's gotten to be a much more difficult fight. In Chechnya's south, in the southern regions, in the mountainous regions, it's become very difficult to fight the Chechens in their hiding places in those mountains. Over the past few weeks, we've seen some real military setbacks for the Russians. We've seen convoys ambushed and attacked. We've seen scenes of public mourning from cities across Russia in the past few weeks. So really public sentiment to keep this war going still strong, to make sure the Chechen rebels are entirely destroyed. That is very much at odds with pressure from the West, from the outside world to end this war and to start negotiations. Rosemary.</s>CHURCH: Steve Harrigan, updating us there from Moscow. END TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE THE SECURE ONLINE ORDER FROM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web