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Bush, Putin Meet to Seek Stable Relations
U.S. President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are to meet for the first time here Saturday in an effort to stabilize relations between the two countries.
During the two-hour meeting to be held at Brdo Castle, some 25 kilometers north of Ljubljana, the two leaders are expected to discuss a number of issues, including bilateral relations, the controversial U.S. plan to deploy a national missile defense (NMD) system, NATO enlargement, as well as the situation in the Balkans and the Middle East.
The meeting comes at an important juncture when the U.S.- Russian ties have been strained by a number of incidents since Bush took office in January, and both countries have expressed the hope that the summit will help lay the foundation for better relations.
Political Analysts here believe that the summit will offer an opportunity for the two leaders to get to know each other better and start dialogue and establish a good working relationship.
The key issue will be the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which bans missile defense systems, and the U.S. plan to deploy such systems.
Bush has indicated that he will try to convince Putin that the ABM treaty is no longer necessary, arguing that the Cold War is over and that the system of international security is no longer based on the balance of nuclear deterrence between the two big powers.
Moscow, however, has refused to revise the treaty and is strongly opposed to the U.S. missile defense plan, insisting the treaty is the cornerstone of global strategic balance and that the U.S. move would trigger a new round of arms race.
Speaking in Moscow from a visit to China's Shanghai on Friday, Putin said he hoped that his first summit meeting with Bush would start the process of devising a unified approach to global security.
He told reporters that he was looking forward to hearing Bush's views on arms control at first hand in Slovenia, and to putting across Russia's point of view.
The two leaders will also discuss NATO expansion. Russia opposes the expansion into the Baltic states of the former Soviet Union.
In a keynote speech in Warsaw on Friday, Bush strongly endorsed extending NATO deeper into Eastern Europe, saying that Russia had nothing to fear from the expansion of the alliance.
Addressing a joint news conference with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski on Friday, Bush said he would also raise U. S. concerns about reports of weapons proliferation on Russia's southern border, in a reference to Russia's military cooperation with Iran.
Bush has appeared tough in his handling of relations with Russia since he became the U.S. president. The harsh rhetoric frequently used by the Bush administration in the first few months in office soured bilateral ties.
The relations further deteriorated after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested in February former FBI officer Robert Hanssen, accusing him of spying for Moscow for 15 years. The spy scandal led to the massive expulsion of diplomats from each other' s capitals.
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