Presidents Putin and Bush Discuss Iraq

Russian President Vladimir Putin today held a telephone conversation with US President George Bush. The call was made by the American side. According to the Russian President's press office, the main topic of discussion was the situation regarding Iraq. Vladimir Putin stressed that the most important thing at the moment is to concentrate on seeing that the UN inspection team is deployed to Iraq as quickly as possible.

The heads of state agreed to cooperate closely over the Iraq question both at the UN and at a bilateral level. Putin and Bush also discussed the issue of cooperation in the sphere of strategic stability. The presidents also agreed to hold a meeting during the APEC summit which is to take place in Mexico in October.