Bush, Putin to sustain talks on NMD

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JULY 23. After a two-hour meeting on Sunday in Genoa, Italy, the U.S. President, Mr. George Bush, and the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, have agreed to sustain and consolidate their cordial dialogue by agreeing to disagree. In a final press conference, each leader allowed himself to claim victory on the tense issues which link Mr. Bush's proposals of arms shield with Mr. Putin's strategy of arms cutbacks. They took significant steps to close the divide on defence issues agreeing on the need to ``co-ordinate and couple'' proposed cuts in nuclear arsenals with the development of missile defences.

A joint statement said: ``We agree that major changes in the world require discussions of offensive and defensive systems. We already have strong and tangible points of agreement.'' Mr. Bush said he was optimistic while Mr. Putin said the discussion on the offensive and defensive arms ``as a set'' had been unexpected and praised the former's approach to strategic issues saying his ``mental reasoning is very deep and very profound''.

Such agreement is interpreted as ``a natural middle ground'', pragmatic and consistent with the strategic aspirations of both sides.

For example, because of its dire economic circumstances, Russia needs to cut its strategic offensive weapons as it cannot afford to maintain and service its stockpile. This handicap can also be turned into a bargaining asset if Russians can manage to negotiate some advantage as Mr. Bush pursues his plan to deploy a missile defence. There is still intense speculation about the proposed missile defence shield's shape, size and above all its strategic and scientific viability.

A series of meetings are proposed in coming weeks before the two Presidents again meet. Mr. Bush's National Security Adviser, Ms. Condoleeza Rice, will visit Moscow soon to discuss arrangements for security talks between Russian and American nuclear and defence specialists.

After the Genoa meeting - their second encounter in two months - the two leaders will meet in China in October and in November Mr. Putin will be the personal guest of Mr. Bush at his ranch in Texas. The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Mr. Paul O'Neill, and the Commerce Secretary, Mr. Donald Evans, will visit Moscow next week to pave way for the summit discussions on economic issues. Ms. Rice said both Presidents wanted pre-summit ministerial talks to take place on an ``aggressive schedule''.

There is speculation about the extent of possible nuclear arms reduction and according to estimates the U.S. has about 7500 operational nuclear warheads against Russia's 6,500. The American officials have argued that in the context of 21st century strategic perceptions ``development of missile defence is a search for security, not a search for advantages'' and conclude that ``just because Mr. Putin is willing to talk does not mean that he is also willing to agree''.

But the bottomline is that there is a healthy rapport between the two Presidents. At their first meeting in June, Mr. Bush said he ``was able to get a sense of his (Mr. Putin's) soul'' and yesterday Mr. Putin praised Mr. Bush's reasoning.

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