| France, Germany and Spain have sown the seeds of a new partnership with Russia at talks intended to save Moscow from isolation. The three countries said on Friday they were united in a commitment to stop Iran developing nuclear weapons. The talks with President Vladimir Putin produced a joint call for Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and focused on areas on which they agreed, glossing over potential points of discord such as Chechnya and the state of democracy in Russia. Putin, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero exuded harmony at a news conference - even on the question of Ukraine where a West-leaning president came to power early this year against Putin's wishes. "We are working very closely on the Iran question," Schroeder said, dismissing any suggestion of differences even though Russia has been supplying Tehran with nuclear technology, saying it is intended for civilian purposes. |