Putin reaches consensus with Bush on Russia-NATO partnership
( 2002-04-13 09:56 ) (8 )

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he and US President George W. Bush have reached agreement on "some very important issues."

Putin made the remarks during a radio call from the Kremlin with Russian and US astronauts, who are now working in the International Space Station.

Putin told the spacemen that he and Bush agreed during a telephone conversation Friday to further expand bilateral cooperation in the fields of disarmament, economy and the mediation of regional crises in the framework of Russia-NATO partnership.

But Putin did not say what concrete accords he had reached with Bush.

He said his conversation with Bush, which happened not long before he spoke with the astronauts, was initiated by the US president and they discussed "very serious issues."

On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Madrid that considerable progress has been achieved in drafting Russia-US strategic arms reduction treaty and a declaration on new strategic relations between Russia and the US

"We have brought our positions closer on both documents," he remarked. Yet Moscow and Washington "still have some differences, in particular about the rules of recording warheads and missiles. Each side has nuances in its approaches to the matter," Ivanov said.

Ivanov and Powell "confirmed their interest in drafting both documents before the US president's visit to Russia" in late May, according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

"We want the visit of George W. Bush to be an important phase in forming a new quality of Russia-US relations in all spheres," Ivanov stated.