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Powell, Ivanov Hold Talks on Upcoming US-Russian Summit
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday held talks with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov at the State Department to prepare for the upcoming summit between U.S. President George W. bush and Russian PresidentVladimir Putin later this month.
Powell and Ivanov emerged after hours-long discussion but offered no details about their talks.
"We are looking forward to the two presidents having a very successful meeting," Powell told reporters waiting outside of the State Department.
Ivanov described his talks with the U.S. secretary of state as "substantial and constructive." He said the two sides are working hard to "prepare documents on key issues of our cooperation" for the summit meeting.
"The secretary had sensitive discussions today with Foreign Minister Ivanov. They talked about strategic stability issues, strategic framework issues, as well as many others," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
"Those conversations with the Russians will continue. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is going to Moscow," he added.
"As the secretary said, he expects to see Foreign Minister Ivanov at the United Nations in New York, and then we'll have the conversations between the presidents about two weeks from now," Boucher said.
Meanwhile, Condoleezza Rice, Bush's assistant for national security, said the two countries are making progress on reducing each other's nuclear arsenal and girding for a defense against missile attack.
"We believe that we understand each other better, that we are making progress," she said.
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