Berlin  - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said his talks in Berlin Friday with three key western gas importers were "good."

Speaking after a lengthy meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin said he expected a settlement of the dispute and an end to the blockade that has cut westward supplies of Siberian gas via Ukraine.

Merkel told reporters there might be a test phase where gas pumping was resumed under monitoring by European Union inspectors.

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 - One of the world's biggest shows of farm produce opened its doors in Berlin Friday, with agriculture ministers from many nations on hand to promote major export deals.

About 1,600 exhibitors from more than 50 countries are displaying farm produce through January 25 at the International Green Week.

Rural costumes and customs are an integral part of the excitement at Berlin's exhibition centre.

Berlin - The cut off in supplies of Russian gas has reduced stocks in western Europe, according to data from Gas Storage Europe (GSE), a Brussels-based organization of the industry, on Friday.

Germany's stocks, which are mainly kept in beds of deep, porous rock, stood at 59 per cent full, as of Monday.

Italian stocks were higher, at 66.5 per cent, and the so-called Baumgarten stock supplying Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary stood at 69 per cent, according to GSE.

The dispute, which began nearly three weeks ago, has cut lines via Ukraine, though lines via Belarus are still open. Bulgaria has been hardest hit, as it cannot receive gas via northern routes or from the west.

Berlin - A former Serb general convicted by the UN war crimes tribunal has arrived in Germany to serve a life sentence, the Justice Ministry announced Friday.

Stanislav Galic, 65, was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in December 2003 for crimes related to the shelling of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

Galic appealed the judgement, but the appeals chamber rejected his arguments and, in November 2006, extended his sentence from 20 years to life imprisonment.

Berlin  - The European Union plans to resume programs to protect dairy farmers, an EU official said Thursday, the day before one of the world's major farm-products fairs opens for business in the German capital of Berlin.

Mariann Fischer Boel, commissioner for agriculture, said, "The abruptness of the fall in the price of milk in the last few months has surprised a lot of people." The EU ceased subsidizing exports a year and a half ago.