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MOSCOW (News Agencies)-During his European tour United States President Bill Clinton is reported to have discussed Russia's 10-month war in the Islamic republic of Chechnya. He expressed concern on Friday about Russia's direction, and dismay over its military action against Muslim Chechens in the Islamic breakaway republic, but he praised Russia's "remarkable journey" since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Russia and the U.S. agree on destroying plutonium stocks, but no deal is expected on U.S. plans for an anti-missile defense system. President Clinton is holding his first formal talks at the Kremlin with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Officials say Clinton's overall message to Russia will be one of inclusion. He told European leaders last week that neither the European Union nor NATO should seal their doors to Russia. The two men met alone for an hour before calling in their advisers for more detailed talks. And while they have agreed a deal to transfer large stocks of plutonium from military to civilian use, U.S. officials say no breakthrough is expected on the key arms control issue. Moscow is vehemently opposed to U.S. plans to build an anti-missile system in Alaska, to counter a potential threat from North Korea. Putin has already warned that if the U.S. goes ahead with the project, Russia might abandon all arms-control accords with the U.S. The deal on plutonium will see each side disposing of 34 tones of weapons-grade plutonium, enough for thousands of warheads. U.S. officials described the agreement as "highly significant and unprecedented". The Americans are advising on how to secure plutonium at Russian naval bases against theft and loss. The informal discussions on Saturday evening - lasting nearly three hours - mostly covered international security, including arms control, the Balkans and the Caucasus, according to U.S. sources. There was an easy-going nature to the conversation," a U.S. official said. But the two men were not yet said to be on first name terms. Discussions on the missile issue are expected to extend into the rest of Clinton's term, with the two presidents meeting again several times this year.
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