June 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin called Italy's Silvio Berlusconi a dear friend and an outstanding politician in a tribute to the former prime minister who died on Monday aged 86. "For me, Silvio was a dear person, a true friend. Berlusconi will be remembered in Russia as a "consistent and principled supporter of strengthening friendly relations between our countries", he said. Like former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Berlusconi cultivated close relations with Moscow during Putin's first years in the Kremlin from 2000 onwards. In a Russian TV interview on Monday, Putin called Berlusconi "a world-class politician, there are few such people in the international arena now".

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, Silvio, Putin, Berlusconi, Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's, Schroeder, Yulia Kuznetsova, Alexei, Mark Trevelyan, Gareth Jones Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Moscow, Kremlin, Crimea, Ukraine, Kyiv, Russian, Europe