Interesting timing for the WTO thing. I wonder what they talked about. An acquaintance of mine has an interesting theory about what Bush is going to try to do WRT his relationship with Russia in the light of the Repup defeat incidentally.
The Moscow Times Thursday, November 16, 2006
WTO, Iran and Blini at Bush Stopover By Simon Saradzhyan Staff Writer
President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush met Wednesday at Vnukovo-2 Airport, outside Moscow, where they confirmed the two countries had reached a critical trade deal and discussed Iran's nuclear program.
The brief layover -- Bush was en route to Singapore for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum -- featured few surprises and plenty of chitchat as the presidents and their wives feasted on crab salad, fish, blini with caviar and sundry desserts.
Putin and his wife, Lyudmila Putina, welcomed the president and first lady Laura Bush on a red carpet that had been rolled out for Air Force One.
The Russian leader presented Laura Bush with a bouquet of flowers and the couples exchanged kisses. Bush clapped Putin on the back.
Inside the marble-floored Vnukovo Airport terminal, the two couples were seated in ornate armchairs while photographers clicked away.
The Bushes then presented their hosts with a giant-sized photograph of all four of them in a golf cart during the Group of Eight summit in June in St. Petersburg, The Associated Press reported.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two leaders "found time to discuss concisely the most important issues on the bilateral agenda."
Last week, negotiators in Washington and Moscow ironed out all the bilateral agreements needed for Russian accession to the World Trade Organization.
On Wednesday, the two presidents said the WTO protocols would be signed at an upcoming meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Peskov said Wednesday's meeting, which lasted more than one hour, gave the two leaders time to outline issues they planned to discuss at greater length in Hanoi.
Peskov said the agenda for that meeting had not yet been finalized, adding that he could not say whether any issues besides the WTO and Iran would be discussed.
Beyond Iran's uranium-enrichment program, Putin and Bush also touched on nuclear nonproliferation in general and the state of affairs in the ever-turbulent Middle East, Peskov said.
Peskov declined to say whether North Korea's nuclear program came up during the meeting or whether Bush had signaled any changes in U.S. foreign policy in the wake of midterm congressional elections. The elections gave the Democrats control of the House and Senate for the first time in 12 years and were widely regarded in the United States as a repudiation of the Iraq war.
Since winning majorities on Capitol Hill, Democrats have said they have reservations about admitting Russia to the WTO in light of questions about intellectual property rights and Russia's resurgent authoritarianism.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
>From left, Laura Bush, George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin
and Lyudmila Putina meeting Wednesday at Vnukovo
Airport.
Asked about the U.S. president's decision to stop in Moscow as he was flying to Asia -- instead of, say, somewhere in Asia -- Peskov said simply that the two leaders "attach great importance to sustaining bilateral relations."
Russia and the United States have increasingly been at odds over Moscow's efforts to maintain sway over former Soviet republics. Some of those republics, including Georgia and Ukraine, are seeking NATO entry.
The two leaders also do not see eye to eye when it comes to imposing UN sanctions on Iran for its failure to comply fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Washington wants tough sanctions; Russia, which is building a nuclear reactor for Iran, has resisted.
A Kremlin source told Interfax on Wednesday before the meeting that Putin would brief Bush on closed-door negotiations last week between Russian leaders and Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, in Moscow.
Putin is aware that relations between the two countries have sunk to their lowest point since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and is "trying to, if not reverse, then slow down the trend toward further deterioration of the relations," said Dmitry Trenin, deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/11/16/002.html
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