“We agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon,” Bush said at a joint press conference with Putin in the Slovak capital, Bratislava. “We agreed that North Korea should not have a nuclear weapon.”
Bush and Putin have tangled over the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Putin’s agreement to help Iran build a nuclear power plant and his decision to scrap direct election of regional governors and appoint them himself.
Today’s talks in Bratislava cap a four-day European trip during which Bush has tried to mend relations with critics of the Iraq war and push his agenda of expanding democracy.
The two pledged to work together toward Russian membership of the World Trade Organization and said they would welcome increase Russian oil exports and more cooperation in their countries’ energy industries.
“We will work to identify areas for progress in our bilateral negotiations that will give momentum to Russia’s accession to the WTO and to Russia’s economic reform program,” Bush and Putin said in a statement issued as they met.
The U.S. and Russia agreed in an announcement earlier today to curb shoulder-fired missiles that terrorists could use to bring down airplanes, the U.S. State Department announced. The agreement was signed between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov in Bratislava before the meeting between the presidents.
The agreement calls for mutual assistance in destroying excess missiles, exchanging information on inventories and preventing proliferation.
