* At the talks, Vladimir Putin described tensions between Russia and the EU as differences of opinion, rather than conflicts
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:
- Vladimir Putin and Condoleezza Rice agreed to look for a mutually satisfactory solution to the Kosovo problem
- Putin reiterated Russia's position on U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements in Central Europe
- The U.S. and Russia reiterated their commitment to bilateral partnership
- Russia and the U.S. agreed to move forward with the establishment of a global coalition to prevent nuclear terrorism
- Russia's president and the U.S. state secretary agreed to "tone down rhetoric" in public debate and focus on real issues, including non-proliferation
* Russia and the United States will hold "two-on-two" talks on missile defense in Moscow when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visit next fall, Rice said
* The first round of U.S.-Polish negotiations on the deployment of missile defense elements will take place in Warsaw May 23-24, the Polish National Defense Ministry said
* Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, agreed Tuesday to hold another round of nuclear talks on May 31, Iran's IRNA news agency
* Russia's president and Germany's foreign minister praised efforts from the EU and Russia to resolve differences, and vowed not to inflate tensions ahead of a difficult Russia-EU summit
* The EU foreign policy chief said the European Union was not yet ready to begin talks on a new strategic cooperation pact with Russia, reflecting persisting differences between Moscow and some East European EU members
* Russia, which is vying for membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), will participate in its annual ministerial meeting in Paris Tuesday and expects to receive the go-ahead for accession to the bloc, Russia's foreign minister said
* The main parties in Serbia's parliament agreed to appoint Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica as head of a new government that the parliament must form and swear in by midnight Tuesday, Serbian news agency TANUG said
* Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU commissioner for external relations and European neighborhood policy, said Poland is honoring all food regulations, and should be exempt from Russia's ban on the import of Polish meat, opening the way to a new Russia-EU partnership agreement
* The Russian president announced that Russia was ready to discuss the issue of Polish meat imports professionally and without bias, Russia's foreign minister said
* A court "suspended" President Viktor Yushchenko's order to dismiss two judges of the Constitutional Court examining the legality of his decree to disband parliament and call early elections, the parliamentary speaker said
* Russia and Myanmar, formerly Burma, signed a cooperation agreement to build a nuclear research center in the Southeast Asian country, Russia's Nuclear Power Agency said in a statement
* Russia's nuclear equipment export monopoly said it had completed a 100-hour test of the first power unit of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China at nominal capacity before restarting it
* A Russian supply vehicle has successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's Mission Control said
* Ten Palestinian security personnel and one Hamas gunman were reported dead Tuesday after a three-day surge of factional violence in the Palestinian territories, a security officer in Gaza told RIA Novosti.
* The head of the exiled Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Russia's capital for a visit aiming to rebuild bridges with hierarchs in Moscow after more than 80 years of separation
* Moscow authorities have reiterated their refusal to organizers of the Gay Pride Parade, who plan to stage a march this year, a city official said
* Ralf Lueddemann, director general of Burda Media's subsidiary Burda Betreuung for operations in Russia, died in Moscow, Burda's press service said
* Police in East Siberia detained five suspects in an attack on a branch of Russia's largest state-controlled savings bank Sberbank in Chita Saturday, local prosecutors said
* A suspect in the killing of a teacher at a Jewish school in St. Petersburg has pleaded guilty to murder charges, but denied his crime was motivated by anti-Semitism, city prosecutors said
*A Moscow court upheld an earlier court ruling ordering the chief editor of Forbes Russia to pay libel compensation to the Inteko company, owned by the Moscow mayor's wife, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported from the courtroom
