Clinton, Putin Agreed to Meet Before July's G8 Summit: SpokesmanUS President Bill Clinton and Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin agreed to hold their first summit before the G8 meeting set for July in Okinawa, a White House spokesman said in California."They agreed to meet before the G8 summit," said White House spokesman Jake Siewert. "They will probably speak to each other at Okinawa, as well." The agreement was made during a 10-minute telephone conversation the two leaders held earlier Saturday, Siewert said. Clinton had called Putin to thank him for his personal involvement in encouraging the Russian Duma to ratify the START II arms reduction treaty, Siewert said. Although Clinton and Putin did not set a date for the possible summit, Clinton already has a European trip set for late May and early June, when he is due to participate in the EU-US summit in Portugal and to visit Germany afterward. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who is in Washington, said on Saturday that a meeting may take place within the next few months, ITAR-TASS news agency reported. Kasyanov said the final date and summit venue will be approved during Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov's visit to Washington scheduled for the end of April. During the telephone conversation, Clinton said the ratification of START II would allow the two nations to begin work on a proposed START III, which would seek even more deeper reductions in nuclear arms stockpiles, Siewert said. Siewert said the US president called the Russian parliament's vote Friday an "important step toward the reduction of nuclear arms." The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II slashes nuclear arms stockpiles in both countries by two-thirds, to 3,000 warheads for Russia and 3,500 for the United States by 2007. Clinton spoke to Putin from California, where he is currently traveling, the spokesman said. The two leaders also discussed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which the United States would like to amend to allow for a national missile defense system, Siewert said. Other topics during the conversation included economic reform, nuclear non-proliferation, and the conflict in Chechnya. |
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