Ukrainian president in Moscow

The president of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, is in Moscow for talks which are expected to focus on the problem of Ukraine's mounting energy debts to Russia.

The BBC Moscow correspondent says the Ukrainian leader will be trying to restructure the one-point-four-billion dollars which Ukraine owes Russia for natural gas -- a debt which is destabilising the Ukrainian economy.

This is Mr Kuchma's third meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the past couple of months, and our correspondent says there is evidence of growing warmth between the two countries. The visit comes at a time when Mr Kuchma is facing a political crisis at home -- the opposition has accused him of involvement in the disappearance of a prominent journalist, Giogi Gongadze, who was highly critical of his administration.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service