RUSSIA: PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN INVITES SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY AND HIS WIFE TO THE KREMLIN AHEAD OF FORMER BEATLE'S RED SQUARE CONCERT

Record ID: 225070

  • Title: RUSSIA: PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN INVITES SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY AND HIS WIFE TO THE KREMLIN AHEAD OF FORMER BEATLE'S RED SQUARE CONCERT
  • Date: 25th May 2003
  • Summary: (EU) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 24, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF KREMLIN 0.04 2. MV HEATHER MILLS-MCCARTNEY AND SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY ENTER ROOM WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN 0.18 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PUTIN SAYING "I'm very happy to see you in Moscow and to have the chance to receive you in the Kremlin." 0.24 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English/Russian) SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY SPEAKING TO PUTIN SAYING "I'd like to say (reading off card in Russian) I'm very glad to be here." 0.33 5. SCU MEDIA 0.37 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY SPEAKING TO PUTIN SAYING "When you were growing up, did you listen to the Beatles." 0.41 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PUTIN SAYING "The Beatles were very popular, it was a bite of freedom, your music was a window onto the world." 0.54 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY SPEAKING TO PUTIN SAYING "It was banned by the authorities, no." 1.00 9. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PUTIN SAYING "It was never banned but the fact that you weren't allowed to perform on says a lot." 1.11 10. SCU HEATHER MILLS MCCARTNEY; SLV MEETING 1.21 11. SOUNDBITE (English) HEATHER MILLS-MCCARTNEY, SAYING "Do you think one day Russia will be able to join the ban treaty." 1.26 12. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAYING "Yes but in order for this to come about on a government level, it is necessary for work to be done on the diplomatic level and for agreement from military structure." 1.37 13. SLV MCCARTNEY, MILLS-MCCARTNEY AND PUTIN WALKING OUTSIDE KREMLIN; SLV FANS FOLLOWING TO TAKE PICTURES; MV PUTIN SPEAKING WITH MCCARTNEY AND MILLS-MCCARTNEY (6 SHOTS) 2.03 14. LAS TILT FROM CHURCH ROOF TO GROUP 2.10 15. SCU ZOOM OUT MV PUTIN SAYING GOODBYE AND SHAKING HANDS WITH MCCARTNEY AND MILLS-MCCARTNEY; MV MORE OF FANS STANDING BY 2.26 16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS, SAYING "We talked to him about a number of issues that we're passionate about, like landmines and he gave us some very encouraging words on that and we've had a really nice visit, but now we must go and prepare for our concert." 2.45 17. WIDE OF CONCERT VENUE; MV FANS LISTENING AS MCCARTNEY ANSWERS QUESTIONS 2.57 18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY, SAYING (Reporter asks: Maria from Ukraine wants to know whether Ukrainian fans will ever have the chance to hear you live, singing in Ukraine) "Yeah, Ukraine girls, hey, we know about you. Yeah, you know, this is our first time in Russia and so tonight is our one and only concert so far, but I think we all love the spirit of Russia and I think after tonight we may have to come back. So, if we do, we'll come to see you Ukraine girls." 3.24 19. WIDE OF CONCERT SITE WITH BIG TELEVISION SCREEN SHOWING MCCARTNEY ANSWERING QUESTIONS 3.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVAEGF72TWU6MJJGU94MOY0AELFD
  • Story Text: Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Sir Paul
    McCartney and his wife to the Kremlin ahead of the former
    Beatle's concert in Moscow's Red Square. The open-air show
    will be held on a temporary stage directly in front of St.

    Basil's Cathedral and is expected to attract 50,000 fans.

    Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills-McCartney
    spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on
    Saturday (May 24, 2003) about a number of topics, ranging from
    music to landmines.

    McCartney took the opportunity to practice some Russian,
    telling the president he was "very glad to be here."
    He also asked if the president had listened to the Beatles
    when he was growing up.

    "The Beatles were very popular, it was a bite of freedom,
    your music was a window onto the world," Putin told the singer
    ahead of McCartney's concert in Moscow's Red Square as part of
    his Back to the World tour.

    However, he added that while the music was not banned, the
    fact that the band was not allowed to play in Russia spoke
    volumes.

    Mills-McCartney joined the discussion, asking Putin
    whether Russia would ever sign the international treaty to ban
    landmines.

    "Yes, but in order for this to come about on a government
    level, it is necessary for work to be done on the diplomatic
    level and for agreement from military structure."
    After their meeting, the trio went walking outside the
    Kremlin where they were followed by many fans eager to take
    photographs of the celebrity couple and their president.

    "We talked to him about a number of issues that we're
    passionate about, like landmines, and he gave us some very
    encouraging words on that and we've had a really nice visit,
    but now we must go and prepare for our concert," McCartney
    told the media outside the Kremlin before he went to his
    concert venue.

    Fans gathered around the venue as McCartney answered more
    questions about the upcoming show, including a question from
    the Ukraine about whether his tour would expand there.

    "This is our first time in Russia and so tonight is our
    one and only concert so far, but I think we all love the
    spirit of Russia and I think after tonight we may have to come
    back," McCartney said.

    Tickets for Saturday's (May 24) concert are reported to be
    changing hands for hundreds of dollars in a country where
    average monthly salaries remain less than $100.

    Beatles recordings were highly prized in Soviet times,
    when contact with Western musical trends was often limited.


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