Chirac out to pacify Putin over Nato expansion

French President Jacques Chirac became the first Western leader to see a top secret Russian space centre as he made a flying visit to Russia to soothe tense ties between Moscow and the expanding European Union (EU) and Nato. Mr Chirac's visit came a day after one by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, aimed at reassuring Russia as the EU encroaches deep into the former Soviet sphere of influence in eastern Europe. The EU and Nato expansion has irritated Moscow, which fears losing political and economic levers in its former sphere of influence. Mr Chirac went straight from the airport to the Titov military space centre in Krasnoznamensk, some 45km outside Moscow. He was greeted by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. He was the first Western head of state to visit the closed Soviet-era facility, which collects and analyses information gathered from nearly all Russian military spy satellites and is run by Russia's Space Forces. Russia's relations with the EU are going through a particularly rocky patch, illustrated by Moscow's reluctance to extend a partnership accord with the bloc to the 10 new entrants. Brussels, meanwhile, is critical of a backsliding on democracy and human rights in Russia under Mr Putin.