"Russia is ready for a visa-free regime with Europe and other countries at any moment," he said in a Web cast, in response to a question put by a British questioner complaining about difficulties he had experienced in obtaining a Russian tourist visa.
Putin re-addressed the question to Brussels, London, Paris and Berlin, and added that he had hoped that the fall of the Berlin Wall would remove all obstacles to people's movement, at least within the continent.
Russia and the European Union signed an agreement on visa facilitation at the Russia-EU summit in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi on May 25. The agreement introduced relaxed visa requirements for certain categories of people for stays of up to 90 days.
The president thanked the questioner for raising the issue, and promised to personally see to it that his visa was issued faster.
Addressing the British questioner and his compatriots almost one year after London bombings, Putin expressed condolences to the families of the victims.
"I want to express condolences to all those affected, and the families who lost their relatives in these terrorist attacks," Putin said.
Two bombs went off in London underground and one on a bus on July 7, 2005, killing 56 people, including four terrorists, and injuring more than 700.
Putin said that hopefully the upcoming summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in St. Petersburg on July 15-17 would address the fight against terrorism.
