Berlin  - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appealed Friday in Berlin to big western energy companies to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure a resumption of shipments of Siberian gas.

He later began an hour of scheduled talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the crisis, which is in its third week.

Meeting executives of E. ON Ruhrgas of Germany, ENI of Italy and Gaz de France, Putin proposed a consortium pay for "technical" gas, which is removed from the pipeline to power the giant pumps that keep the remainder of the gas moving westwards.

Berlin - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin toured the International Green Week Agricultural Fair in Berlin on Friday ahead of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel was expected to use the late afternoon meeting to urge the Russian leader to resolve the gas dispute with Ukraine as soon as possible.

A government spokesman said Merkel expected Moscow and Kiev to adhere to their contractual obligations and resume natural gas supplies to Europe without further delay.

Dresden, Germany - A human rights group criticized plans by a German cultural organization to present an award to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the eastern city of Dresden on Friday.

"He doesn't deserve to be honoured," the German-based Society for Threatened Peoples said, blaming Putin for human rights violations by Russian troops in Chechnya.

During his time as president, the Russian leader was responsible for the deaths of around 80,000 men, women and children in the breakaway republic, the society said in a statement.

London, Jan 15 : Vladimir Putin has a reputation for being something of a tough man, but now the Russian Prime Minister has shown his softer side by turning his hand to art.

His debut painting pays tribute to Ukrainian folklore and will be auctioned for charity at the weekend.

Painted with pastels, Putin's artwork depicts a wintery night sky seen through a peasant''s window framed by traditional lace curtains embroidered with beads and red stitching.

Moscow  - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday Russia would reopen gas flow to Europe only after European monitors are in place in Ukraine to monitor its safe flow.

"What must happen today is that controlling mechanisms are put in place and monitors are sent to the border where our gas enters Ukrainian territory," Putin told journalist in televised comments Thursday.

Putin said the government in Kiev had "collapsed" and showed proof of a "high-level criminal structure."

Berlin - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to meet Chancellor Ange