Russian President Vladimir Putin(Right) and Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko shake hands during a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters)

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Jan. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko held their first face-to-face talks here on Wednesday since Russian-Ukrainian ties were strained by a natural gas crisis.

    Putin and Yushchenko were here to attend the inauguration of Kazakhstan's reelected President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

    The two leaders admitted that their countries had undergone hard times recently.

    "We have gone over to principles that are comprehensible, transparent and clear," Yushchenko was quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency as saying.

    The dispute over the gas price, which led to a three-day cutoff of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine last week, brought Russian-Ukrainian ties to a new low.

    The gas crisis has also touched off political turmoil in Ukraine. The parliament on Tuesday passed a motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov's government for accepting the nearly doubled gas price.   Enditem