Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met Austrian President Heinz Fischer in Vienna on Saturday.
The two spoke German, a language the Russian premier speaks fluently from his KGB days in East Germany, at their meeting at the Austrian president's residence.
"This is a friendly handshake, not a vice-like grip," Fischer said.
The meeting saw a discussion of economic cooperation, including the South Stream gas project.
Putin oversaw the signing of a deal to bring Austria into the gas pipeline project earlier on Saturday.
South Stream is designed to carry 31 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year across the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further on to Italy and Austria. It is due to go into operation at the end of 2015.
VIENNA, April 24 (RIA Novosti)
