Gerhard Schroeder, Leonid Kuchma, Vladimir Putin

COMM German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, right, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, left, visit the Pavlovsky Palace museum outside St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, June 10, 2002. The three countries signed an agreement of intent to cooperate on modernizing a gas pipeline to bring Russian supplies through Ukraine to Europe, the latest of Moscow's moves to counter U.S.-backed moves to create new pipelines that avoid Russia. Photo by Valery Soloviov / UNIAN