U.S. President George W. Bush (left) shakes hands with Romanian President Traian Basescu at Neptun, on the Black Sea coast, April 2, 2008.
Photo: Reuters
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Bush Invites Russia to “Unprecedented Cooperation”
U.S. President George W. Bush expects “an unprecedented level of strategic cooperation” on arms control and the creation of a missile defense system at his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. leader made that statement today in Bucharest, where the NATO summit has started.
Bush also repeated that the U.S. missile defense system in Europe is not aimed against Russia. “The Cold War is over. Russia is not our enemy. We are working toward a new security relationship with Russia,” Bush said.
The NATO summit will continue through April 4. It will be the alliance's largest, with 26 member states taking part. The summit will conclude with a session of the Russia-NATO council, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part. The proposed U.S. missile defense system, with ten interceptor missiles to be located in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic, has been a stumbling block in U.S.-Russian relations. The White House insists that the system is necessary to protect Europe from pariah states such as Iran and North Korea. Moscow is opposed to the system, considering it a threat to Russian security.
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