MOSCOW (AP) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev on Thursday hailed the U.S.-Russian summit this week as a major step toward Russia's integration into the West.
U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to sign an arms deal envisaging deep cuts in their countries' nuclear arsenals and discuss a broad range of issues intended to boost ties already warmed by Putin's support for the U.S. antiterrorism campaign.
"Both presidents intend to change the relationship given the fact that we are now living in a different world, a different Europe and are no longer adversaries," Gorbachev said at a news conference.
He hailed both Putin and Bush for having the political will to try to overcome the legacy of confrontation and inertia that often stalled attempts to build closer ties.
"The presidents are doing that in conditions when many people both here and in the United States don't welcome this cooperation," Gorbachev said.
Gorbachev also praised Putin for pushing the U.S. administration into codifying the nuclear cuts in a formal treaty. Bush, initially reluctant to formalize the planned cuts, later accepted Putin's proposal.
"It's good that our president has succeded in his push for a legally binding treaty complete with timeframe and control mechanisms," he said.
"The piles of nuclear weapons accumulated by the United States and Russia are so huge that even a one-thousandth part of them is capable of totally destroying life on Earth," said Gorbachev, who signed several landmark arms control treaties with the United States as the Soviet leader.
Gorbachev also hailed Russia's push for forging closer ties with NATO, which Bush has strongly supported. A new Russia-NATO agreement to be signed during next week's summit in Rome would establish a joint council to set policies on counterterrorism, non-proliferation, peackeeping and other issues.
"It's good that Russia will participate not just in discussions but in making decisions as well," Gorbachev said.