Bush to Reassure Putin NATO Expansion Poses no Threat to Russia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 22, 2002

Bush to Reassure Putin NATO Expansion Poses no Threat to Russia

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US President George W. Bush is scheduled to fly to Russia on Friday to reassure Russian President Vladimir Putin that NATO's just declared expansion to Russia's western border poses no threat to Moscow.

Bush was to make a brief trip to St. Petersburg on Friday, one day after NATO agreed to expand its membership to Lithuania and six other countries.

"I will tell my friend, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian people that they, too, will gain from the security and stability of nations to Russia's west," Bush told reporters before traveling to Russia for an 80-minute meeting with Putin.

"Russia does not require a buffer zone of protection; it needs peaceful and prosperous neighbors who are also friends," he said.

When asked by reporters whether he trusted Putin, Bush replied,"Of course I do."

Bush were to stay on the ground in Russia for just two hours before going to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, to celebrate the invitation the Baltic nation has received to join NATO in 2004.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, three former Soviet republics nestled along the Russian border, were among the seven countries offered NATO membership at this week's alliance summit in Prague.

In its summit declaration issued on Thursday, the NATO leaders committed themselves to broadening cooperation with Russia as "equal partners.

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