RUSSIA: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA MEETS YELTSIN (V)

(6 Dec 1999) Voice and effects

Russian President Boris Yeltsin has left hospital and returned to the Kremlin to meet the visiting leader of the Ukraine.

Yeltsin has been undergoing treatment for pneumonia after falling ill last month.

He congratulated Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on winning a second term in a presidential vote in mid November.

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Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma got a warm welcome from President Boris Yeltsin, who appeared frail after the latest of many hospital stays.

Kuchma, who flew into Moscow on Monday, also met Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

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It was Kuchma's first trip to Moscow since winning a second term in presidential elections on November 14th.

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But during his term of office, Yeltsin has been in and out of hospital.

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This time he was in for pneumonia.

Keen to show their sixty-eight-year old president is still in control, last week Russian officials allowed T-V cameras into the hospital to show Yeltsin in talks with Putin.

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He's left the hospital specifically to meet Kuchma.

On Friday, a presidential spokesman said he still plans to visit China later this month, but may cancel if he doesn't recover quickly.

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VISION ENDS

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