Although not part of the official schedule, the President of Romania Traian Basescu had a bilateral meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday. The latter invited the former to pay a visit to Moscow, when getting thanks for attending the NATO summit in Bucharest. The Kremlin leader expressed his appreciation for the arrangements made for the event. President Putin argued that, after President Basescu's visit to Russia in 2005, there followed an improvement in the economy relations between the two states. And he even gave a figure: $ 5 billion. After expressing gratitude for hospitality, President Putin reminded that October 2008 would mean 130 years of bilateral relations between Romania and Russia. And the Romanian President replied as follows: "I am convinced that the basis of the new kind of relations between Romania and Russia was established when I visited Moscow. Thank you very much once again." Then the microphones were disconnected and the journlists asked to leave the room so that the two would continue their meeting. The Russian President had arrived to Bucharest last Thursday evening. Romania's foreign minister Adrian Cioroianu greeted him at the airport. President Putin attended the official dinner for the NATO summit participants in the Hilton Hotel, Bucharest. Among the guests there were the US President George W. Bush, the US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice, the NATO secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the German President Angela Merkel and the British PM Gordon Brown. (G.D.)