Putin and Bush could talk about "anything"

Russian President Vladimir Putin will mark the beginning of his stay at Sea Island by meeting with the host of the G8 summit President of the US George Bush. Both leaders will meet today at 2:40 pm local time (when in Russia it will be long past midnight).

This is the first bilateral meeting of Putin and Bush this year. Last time they met in 2003 in Bangkok during Asian-Pacific Forum.

Yesterday, US National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice noted that topics of discussion between the two leaders in the course of the G8 summit are not limited to specifics. Both Russian and American presidents are in very good relations with each other, stated she. “I am sure that our president would like to learn more from Mr. Putin about Russia’s further moves,” added Rice, referring to Russia’s foreign politics as well as the ongoing process of economic and political reforms.

While noting that “strategic dialog” between Moscow and Washington involves most important issues of foreign affairs, US security advisor also remarked that at Sea Island they can mainly expect to find acknowledgement of the overall importance of the joint fight against international terrorism.

“Russia is one of those countries that possesses fundamental understanding” of this problem, because it has dealt with terrorism itself “at its very heart—in Moscow”, emphasized Rice.

According to her, Russia and the United States both face major tasks, including discussions of the non-proliferation treaty. Rice welcomed the idea of Moscow accepting the idea of safety in this situation. “This is a very important breakthrough,” said she. In addition, stated Rice, Washington and Moscow both take part in six-sided negotiations concerning the adjustment of nuclear problem in DPRK. “Basically, the presidents could discuss practically anything” during the summit, stated the US National Security Advisor reports ITAR-TASS.