German ex-Chancellor Schroeder praises Putin for 'stability and reliability'
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Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder praised Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday for putting Russia "on a path to stability" and warned those doubting Moscow's reliability as a gas and oil supplier that other sources could be far less steady.
Schroeder urged a forum on Russia to consider its lack of democratic traditions during the tsarist and Communist periods, and the chaos of the post-Soviet 1990s, before judging Putin. (AP)
