President Bush plays down row with Putin

HEILIGENDAMM – US President George W Bush said he hoped to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday that their dispute over a US missile defence system is not an issue either side should ‘be hyperventilating about’.

Bush and Putin held talks yesterday afternoon on the sidelines of the Group of Eight summit – their first meeting since a clash over US plans for a missile defence system in eastern Europe flared into Cold War-style rhetoric. Bush said he would try to ease Russia’s concerns about the shield and convince him the intention is to block missiles from Iran – not Russia, which has a huge arsenal of nuclear rockets that the system would not be capable of deterring.”A missile defence system cannot stop multilaunch regimes….The fact is that you can’t stop two, three, four, five missiles,” Bush said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.”Russia is not a threat,” Bush said.”They’re not a military threat.They’re not something that we ought to be hyperventilating about.What we ought to be doing is figuring out ways to work together.”But Moscow has dismissed that as an ‘insufficient’ explanation.Putin warned earlier this week that a new shield could require Russia to retarget missiles toward Europe or take other buildup measures, and a Kremlin spokesman promised ‘uncomfortable consequences’ if the shield is deployed.But, spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, “Russia is the last country in this world who is thinking about confrontation or starting another Cold War.”There are other items on the US-Russia disagreement list, notably Russia’s unhappiness with US support for independence for the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.Russia bristles at what it sees as US meddling in its traditional sphere of influence.Bush this week put Russia on a par with China, calling US-Russian ties ‘complex’ and criticising democracy as having been ‘derailed’ under Putin.The remarks carried extra sting because they were delivered publicly and in the Czech Republic.The Nato membership of the former Soviet satellite, which threw off communism in 1989, along with others, is a thorn in Russia’s side.However, Moscow has shown more willingness of late to help the West take on Iran over its nuclear programme, and Russian officials said the open hostility was part of a constructive relationship.”This summit isn’t about disagreements between Russia and the rest of the G-8 members,” Peskov said late Wednesday, adding that he hoped for “an open and sincere exchange of views” between Bush and Putin.Putin next month will become the first world leader during Bush’s presidency to come to the Bush family’s summer compound on the Maine coast.The two -once so close in the aftermath of the September 11 2001, attacks – last met in November, in Hanoi, Vietnam.Nampa-APBush said he would try to ease Russia’s concerns about the shield and convince him the intention is to block missiles from Iran – not Russia, which has a huge arsenal of nuclear rockets that the system would not be capable of deterring.”A missile defence system cannot stop multilaunch regimes….The fact is that you can’t stop two, three, four, five missiles,” Bush said after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.”Russia is not a threat,” Bush said.”They’re not a military threat.They’re not something that we ought to be hyperventilating about.What we ought to be doing is figuring out ways to work together.”But Moscow has dismissed that as an ‘insufficient’ explanation.Putin warned earlier this week that a new shield could require Russia to retarget missiles toward Europe or take other buildup measures, and a Kremlin spokesman promised ‘uncomfortable consequences’ if the shield is deployed.But, spokesman Dmitry Peskov added, “Russia is the last country in this world who is thinking about confrontation or starting another Cold War.”There are other items on the US-Russia disagreement list, notably Russia’s unhappiness with US support for independence for the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.Russia bristles at what it sees as US meddling in its traditional sphere of influence.Bush this week put Russia on a par with China, calling US-Russian ties ‘complex’ and criticising democracy as having been ‘derailed’ under Putin.The remarks carried extra sting because they were delivered publicly and in the Czech Republic.The Nato membership of the former Soviet satellite, which threw off communism in 1989, along with others, is a thorn in Russia’s side.However, Moscow has shown more willingness of late to help the West take on Iran over its nuclear programme, and Russian officials said the open hostility was part of a constructive relationship.”This summit isn’t about disagreements between Russia and the rest of the G-8 members,” Peskov said late Wednesday, adding that he hoped for “an open and sincere exchange of views” between Bush and Putin.Putin next month will become the first world leader during Bush’s presidency to come to the Bush family’s summer compound on the Maine coast.The two -once so close in the aftermath of the September 11 2001, attacks – last met in November, in Hanoi, Vietnam.Nampa-AP