Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to Ukraine on Saturday for talks with President Viktor Yushchenko. Yushchenko's office was billing the trip _ scheduled to last only a few hours _ as a chance for "eye to eye" talks. "Russia is our strategic partner and we believe that in the course of this visit we will lay the groundwork for a new stage in the development of Ukrainian-Russian relations," Yushchenko said ahead of the visit, according to his office.