Bush reaches out to Putin ahead of G8 summit

Jun 1, 2007, 18:28 GMT

Washington/Frankfurt - US President George W Bush moved Friday to create a conciliatory mood with Russia ahead of next week's Group of Eight summit in Germany.

In an interview with German television aired Friday, Bush said he had 'worked hard to have a personal relationship with Vladimir Putin so the two leaders could openly discuss disputes' without rupturing relations.

'My personal message to Vladimir Putin is, there's no need to try to relive the Cold War. It's over. And we don't view Russia as an enemy. We view Russia as an opportunity to work together,' Bush told ZDF television.

Tensions between Washington and Russia have been rising in the build-up to the summit in the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm.

Moscow has sharply criticised US plans to station elements of a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Bush said the US would be 'totally transparent' about the technology and invited Russia to inspect the sites once the system is deployed. He reiterated the US position that the system is not aimed at Russia.

'We want you to come and inspect our sites, we want you to talk to our military,' Bush said.

'We want to be wide open, because this system is not geared toward Russia,' he said. 'It's geared toward a rogue state that may be able to acquire a nuclear weapon.'

Apart from testing a new intercontinental missile as a reaction of the anti-missile proposals, Putin has also threatened to withdraw from the treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), a key post- Cold War security pact.

At the same time, Russia's ties with the European Union have been strained by Moscow's refusing to lift an import ban on Polish beef, attacking Estonia's decision to remove a Soviet-era war memorial from the centre of Tallinn and opposing supervised-independence for the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo.