(4 Jul 2003)
1. Eternal flame at the tomb of Unknown Soldiers Moscow
2. Romanian President Ion Iliescu and officials carrying wreath
3. Romanian President Ion Iliescu laying wreath at the tomb of Unknown Soldiers
4. Romanian President Ion Iliescu standing
5. Kremlin exteriors
6. Closer up on Kremlin exteriors
7. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Romanian President Ion Iliescu meeting in the Kremlin office; handshakes
8. Cutaway journalists
9. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Romanian President Ion Iliescu seated with interpreters
10. President Putin
11. President Ion Iliescu
12. Cutaway Russian and Romanian flags
13. Pan of signing ceremony from President Ion Iliescu to President Vladimir Putin
14. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Romanian President Ion Iliescu handshakes/exchanging documents
15. SOUNDBITE: (Romanian) Romanian President Ion Iliescu:
"We must remember all of our history. We must remember the light points and the dark ones. The good and the bad. Our history is not just a history of conflicts."
16. Cutaway
17. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Russian President Vladimir Putin:
"The task before Russia and its traditional allies including Romania is to change the (current) tendency for the better and to restore our relations with a perspective for development first and foremost in the economic sphere."
18. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Romanian President Ion Iliescu and officials leaving hall
STORYLINE:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Romanian counterpart on Friday signed a long-delayed friendship treaty meant to put more than a decade of strained relations behind their countries.
"Both sides express their determination to overcome the negative legacy of the totalitarian past and build their relations by taking account of the significant changes occurring in Russia and Romania," read a declaration from the countries' foreign ministers that accompanied the treaty signed by Putin and visiting Romanian President Ion Iliescu at a Kremlin ceremony.
Russia had already signed similar treaties with the other post-Soviet countries, but Romania repeatedly refused to participate.
Romania insisted Russia apologize for annexing a Romanian province in 1940 and return Romanian treasures, including gold belonging to the Romanian royal family, which had been sent to Russia for safekeeping during World War I.
Russia has refused for years to agree to the Romanian demands.
In a compromise reached last month, the Russian and Romanian foreign ministers agreed to sign the joint statement attached to the treaty, condemning both the annexation of Romanian provinces by Russia and Romania's role in World War II, when it allied with Germany to attack Russia.
The statement also says that a public commission of historians should examine the countries' relations, including the issue of Romanian gold.
Putin expressed hope that the countries would cooperate to contribute to a "stable and prosperous Europe."
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