RUSSIA: Dutch King Willem-Alexander meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at Kremlin

Record ID: 863990

  • Title: RUSSIA: Dutch King Willem-Alexander meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at Kremlin
  • Date: 8th November 2013
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF DUTCH KING WILLEM-ALEXANDER AND QUEEN MAXIMA WALKING INTO ROOKM AND SHAKING HANDS WITH PUTIN
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • City:
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: International Relations,Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVAEH2W9NLGAP6TPW20EGM29O57G
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Friday (November 8) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as ties between the countries have been tested by the arrests of Greenpeace activists and Russia's "homosexual propaganda" law.
    The King and his wife Queen Maxima shook hands and spoke briefly in front of cameras with Putin in an opulent Kremlin hall.
    Russia criticised the Netherlands before talks with the Dutch king on Friday, accusing it of "inaction" in not preventing a Greenpeace protest at a Russian Arctic oil rig in which 30 people were arrested.
    Hours before Putin and Willem-Alexander were due to meet in Moscow, Russia's Foreign Ministry said the Netherlands was to blame because the Greenpeace icebreaker involved was registered in Amsterdam.
    The Sept. 18 protest, off the Russian Arctic coast against oil drilling there, has strained relations between Moscow and The Hague.
    Russia has refused to take part in a hearing at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in which the Netherlands is seeking the release of the 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists from pre-trial detention.
    The 30 crew members and activists have been held in Russia since its border guards forcibly boarded their icebreaker after the protest.
    Russian investigators charged them with hooliganism to replace original charges of piracy, which would have been punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
    Ties between Moscow and The Hague have also soured over Russia's treatment of gays and concern over a new Russian law banning the spread of "homosexual propaganda" among children. Other disputes include incidents involving a Dutch diplomat in Moscow and a Russian one in The Hague.
    Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Moscow did not expect the Dutch king, who is a ceremonial head of state, to raise any controversial issues during his talks with Putin on Friday evening.
    Such issues are more likely to be discussed at talks on Saturday between the countries' foreign ministers, Frans Timmermans and Sergei Lavrov.
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