Bush says Iraq crisis made U.S.-Russian relations “stronger not weaker”

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Holding their first official direct talks since their dispute over the war on Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday, June 1, their "friendship" was as strong as ever, laying aside a dispute over the Iraq war, but barely concealing a simmering row over Iran's nuclear program.

Swapping smiles, handshakes and hugs at a joint press appearance after talks linked to Saint Petersburg's 300th anniversary celebrations, Bush and Putin set out to recreate the buddy atmosphere of their previous encounters.

After talks in Saint Petersburg's grand Konstantinovsky Palace, they also warned North Korea to abandon its nuclear aspirations and signed documents implementing the Moscow Treaty, which mandates sharp cuts in Cold War nuclear weapons stocks, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

Speaking at the joint press conference, Bush said the differences over the U.S.-led war would only "make our relationship stronger, not weaker."

Bush’s amicable remarks were echoed by Putin, who said that Moscow and Washington intended to continue their strategic partnership despite disagreements over Iraq.

"Our relations are stronger than the events that tested it," said Putin, stressing that despite diverging over Iraq, Russia and the United States had many common interests.

"It is precisely these things that enable me to call President Bush my friend, not only personally -- because I do like him a lot -- but as my counterpart and the president of a friendly nation," he said, earning a grin from Bush.

"Of course we are aware of the questions being raised as to whether relations between Russia and the U.S. will withstand the test of time," Putin said.

Mutual Concern Over Iran

But both men observed an uneasy truce over Iran.

"We are concerned about Iran's advanced nuclear program and urge Iran to comply in full with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," Bush said.

The United States claims that what Iran says is a peaceful civilian nuclear program is a pretext for weapons manufacture.

Washington has been pressuring Russia to stop building a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, which it has so far declined to do.

"I appreciate Vladimir Putin's understanding of the issue and his willingness to work with me and others to solve this potential problem," said Bush.

Putin insisted that the two sides were "closer than they seem" on the issue.

"The position of Russia and the U.S. on the issue are much closer than they seem," said Putin, adding that Russian did not need to be convinced of “the fact that there should no proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."

But in a sharp remark that jolted the bonhomie, Putin warned Russia was not yet ready to sever nuclear ties with Iran.

Putin said the United States must not use Russia's peaceful nuclear cooperation with Iran as a pretext for pushing Russian companies operating in the country out of the lucrative market.

"We are against the pretext of using the nuclear weapons program in Iran as a lever in unfair business competition against us," he said.

"But we will continue working with all, including the United States, in order to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction everywhere, including Iran," said Putin.

"Good Friend"  

Bush signaled that Russia would not pay a similar price as France and Germany for opposing the U.S.-led war in Iraq, inviting his "good friend" Putin to his weekend retreat outside Camp David in Washington in September.

Putin last visited Bush at his adored Texas ranch in November 2001.

There was no word on the fate of billions of dollars of Russian oil contracts in Iraq, whose oil industry is now under the "administration"  of the United States and Britain occupation in line with latest U.N. resolutions, which Russia was "persuaded"  to back.

But Putin noted that "Russian companies have a wealth of experience operating in Iraq and we intend to continue our cooperation in this area, with Iraq and in Iraq."

On a day when the South Korean navy fired warning shots at North Korean fishing boats straying into tense inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, Bush said he and Putin called on the Stalinist state to "visibly, verifiably, and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear weapons program."

Russia is seen as one of the few states with any influence over North Korea, with which the United States has been locked since October in a nuclear standoff.

Putin and Bush also signed formal documents putting into effect a strategic arms reduction treaty that slashes the two sides' nuclear weapons to a range of 1,700 to 2,200 nuclear warheads by the year 2012.

Bush arrived in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, May 31, when he also briefly met German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, whose opposition to the Iraq war had soured his relationship with the U.S. president, at a dinner hosted by Putin.

Bush and Putin were scheduled to leave straight after their talks for the Group of Eight summit of the largest industrialized nations in Evian, France.