19 November 2002 15:59
RUSSIA: BUSH, PUTIN TO MEET IN ST. PETERSBURG AFTER PRAGUE SUMMIT
U.S. President George W. Bush will hold a summit meeting with President Vladimir Putin near St. Petersburg on 22
November, immediately following the historic NATO summit in Prague where several Eastern and Central European countries
are expected to be invited into the trans-Atlantic alliance, pronews.ru and other Russian news agencies reported on 17
November. The summit will take place in the St. Petersburg suburb of Pushkin. Analysts expect Bush will continue
pressing Putin to accept possible U.S. military intervention in Iraq if the mission of UN weapons inspectors there is a
failure. It will be difficult for Putin to resist Bush, who is politically strong following the Republican Party victory
in U.S. congressional elections on 5 November, pronews.ru commented. The two leaders will also discuss the Middle East,
international terrorism, strategic stability, and a number of bilateral issues. The Kremlin will attempt to convince the
United States to add several Chechen separatist organizations to the U.S. State Department list of organizations accused
of sponsoring or engaging in terrorism, polit.ru reported. VY Copyright (c) 2002. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the
permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
[AIW [Asia Africa Intelligence Wire]] |
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