WASHINGTON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S.
President George W. Bush on Monday had informal talks with Russian President
Vladimir Putin over issues of anti-missile defense system and the disputed Iran
nuclear program in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Speaking to reporters after the talks, Putin said:
"We support the idea of consultations on missile defense and believe that the
number of participants should be expanded to include the European States."
U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and
Russia's President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press availability after
their summit meeting at the Bush family home on Walker's Point in
Kennebunkport, Maine July 2, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
"This should be done within Russia-NATO council,"
Putin said.
The Russian leader also said that he did not believe
it was necessary to have the missile defense systems in the Czech Republic and
Poland.
On Iran, President Bush said Russia shared U.S.
concerns about Iran's nuclear program. "I've been counting on the Russians'
support to send a strong message to the Iranians," he said.
Bush is increasingly intent on stopping the Iranian
nuclear program, the New York Times quoted an unidentified senior official as
saying on Sunday. The report said that Bush would urge Putin to support a major
escalation of pressure on Iran in Monday talks.
Putin arrived at the Bush family compound in
Kennebunkport Sunday afternoon for a less-24 hour visit to the United States,
during which leaders of the two countries were believed to try to patch up a
fraying Washington-Moscow relations.
Putin's latest visit to the United States occurred
when U.S.-Russian relations have slid to their worst point since the Cold War.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have chilled
as the United States has negotiated to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland
and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a global system to protect
against missile threat from Iran and other countries it sees as "rogue" states.
Previous reports said the Bush-Putin meeting should
focus a series of hard topics, including issues of missile defense, Iran's
nuclear ambitions, the future of Kosovo and a civilian nuclear reactor
cooperation initiative in addition to bilateral relations.
Washington and Moscow forged an anti-terrorism ally
after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the bond has been repeatedly chipped by disputes
developed over the Iraq war, missile defense plans, the fate of democracy in
Russia, NATO expansion to Russia's doorstep.
Putin vehemently opposes U.S. plans for missile
defense in Central Europe, but he proposed at a recent meeting in Germany of top
industrialized countries the shared use of a Russia-rented early warning radar
in Azerbaijan.
The White House has been careful not to dismiss
Putin's suggestion.
Instead, White House spokesman Tony Snow said earlier
that "the president was encouraged that President Putin thought it was important
to talk about missile defense, recognizing that if a hostile power, a rogue
nation gets the capability of putting nuclear weapons on a missile, everybody in
Europe and Asia is going to be in jeopardy."
But U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said
Washington will not embrace the facility in Azerbaijan as a substitute for a
radar and interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic.
WASHINGTON, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Monday proposed expanding cooperation on a missile
shield to include European and NATO countries.
Speaking after talks with U.S. President George W.
Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine, Putin said: "We support the idea of consultations
on missile defense and believe that the number of participants should be
expanded to include the European States." Full story
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President
Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday afternoon in Portsmouth, a short helicopter trip
from Kennebunkport, Maine where U.S. President George W. Bush will treat him and
talk about easing tense relations between the two countries.
In his two-day visit, Putin and Bush are expected to
talk about issues of the Middle East, Iran's nuclear ambitions, missile defense,
the future of Kosovo and a civilian nuclear reactor cooperation initiative in
addition to bilateral relations. Full story
WASHINGTON, July 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George
W. Bush is due to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday in
Kennebunkport, Maine, to soothe tensions between the two countries that have
developed over issues such as a proposed U.S. missile shield, human rights
issues and the Iraq war.
The meeting will take place at the Bush family's
stone-and-shingle summer home on the craggy Maine coast overlooking the Atlantic
Ocean. No other foreign leader has ever received such a rarified invitation
before. Full story
MOSCOW, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir
Putin is leaving Moscow on Sunday for a visit to his U.S. counterpart George W.
Bush's Atlantic coastal summer residence. What can the world expect from them,
when the two countries are in rows on a number of issues? Full story
U.S. President George W. Bush (R) and
Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the end of a joint news
conference at Bush's family home in Kennebunkport, Maine July 2, 2007.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
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