George W. Bush Determined to Strengthen Relations with Russia

The American President is expected to come to St.Petersburg to take part in the 300th anniversary celebration

On Wednesday evening, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov had a meeting with American president George W. Bush and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Politicians discussed the issues of the reciprocal interest, particularly the cooperation in the defense industry and the counteraction against the international terrorism. The press service of the US Security Council informed that George W. Bush had confirmed the aspiration of the United States to the positive development of relations with Russia.

Sergey Ivanov handed over the message from President Putin to George W. Bush. The Russian president pointed out in the message that Russia was ready to develop the cooperation with the USA in all directions. The US-Russian strategic partnership is good for the interests of the entire international community, since it works for the sake of the global stability and security.

The Russian president stressed out that US-Russian relations had more uniting factors than separating ones. In the message, Vladimir Putin confirmed the agreement to continue the talks regarding actual issues of the bilateral cooperation within the scope of negotiations in St.Petersburg.

A high-ranking source from the Russian delegation told RIA Novosti that Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov would also conduct negotiations with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Sergey Ivanov would also visit the US Senate and talk to CIA Director George Tenet.

This is Sergey Ivanov's sixth meeting with American senior officials over the recent three years. Spokespeople for the Russian delegation said, one of the main goals of Sergey Ivanov's visit to the States was to put an end to the contradiction between the USA and Russia, which had been caused with Moscow's disagreement concerning the army action in Iraq.

An official spokesman for the White House said that the meeting between George W. Bush and Sergey Ivanov "was very positive." In addition to that, it was officially announced in Washington that the American president would visit St.Petersburg to take part in the celebration of the city's 300th anniversary. George W. Bush is to set for the European tour on May 30th.

Vesti.Ru