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Bush, Putin to try for unity on terror war
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-18 08:43
Though their political relationship is strained, President and Russian
President Vladimir Putin are trying to speak with one voice about the war on
terror and the campaign to stop North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The two leaders were to meet Friday, apparently still at odds over how to
address Iran's nuclear programs and with long-running differences over the
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and U.S. concern that Russia is retreating from
democracy.
Far from home, Bush was on the defensive about Democrats' criticism that he
had misled the nation about the need to go to war in Iraq.
U.S. President George W. Bush (L) shakes hands
with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun following joint remarks in
Kyongju, South Korea November 17, 2005.
[Reuters] | He said at a news conference Thursday that it was "patriotic as heck to
disagree with the president." But he added, "What bothers me is when people are
irresponsibly using their positions and playing politics. That's exactly what is
taking place in America."
Friday's meeting was to be the fifth between Bush and Putin this year,
following talks in Moscow; Washington; Bratislava, Slovakia, and Gleneagles,
Scotland. Despite their disputes, they're on a first-name basis and emphasize
their friendship, which was strengthened when Putin stepped forward and
supported Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Bush and Putin were to meet in a hotel suite before the opening of the annual
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The White House said the key topics
would be Iran, North Korea, terrorism, trade, Moscow's goal of joining the World
Trade Organization by the end of the year and developments in Russia.
Bush also was to meet with Southeast Asia leaders to
underscore U.S. interest in the region, one of the battlegrounds in the fight
against terrorists.
Putin has refused to support Bush in his eagerness to go to the U.N. Security
Council with suspicions Iran is trying to build a nuclear arsenal. Over U.S.
objections, Russia is building a nuclear reactor for a power plant in Iran, an
$800 million project the United States fears could be used to help develop
nuclear arms.
Putin says that he shares the U.S. goal of an Iran without nuclear arms but
that he has been assured Tehran has no ambitions for developing a nuclear weapon
and instead wants its program for civilian energy use alone.
Bush and Putin have generally agreed on a need to avert the spread of nuclear
weapons technology to other nations, including North Korea. Russia is a partner
with the United States, China, Japan and South Korea in talks aimed at
persuading North Korea to halt its nuclear program in return for energy and
security guarantees.
The political relationship between Bush and Putin has frayed, in part because
of U.S. concerns that Putin is consolidating power in the Kremlin and eroding
democratic advances in post-Soviet Russia.
While Russia backed the United States in the war in Afghanistan, Putin
vehemently opposed the invasion of Iraq.
Putin has been outspoken about the struggle against terrorism, but U.S.
officials accuse Russia of turning a blind eye toward what they say is Iranian
and Syrian support for terrorists.
Russian officials accuse the United States and European nations of
maintaining double standards on terrorism and have repeatedly lashed out at them
for granting asylum to Chechen rebel figures they consider terrorists. Putin and
other officials have suggested some in the West are at least tacitly supporting
terrorists in hopes of weakening or dividing Russia.
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