Bush, Putin agree on weapons

CAMP DAVID, Md. — President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday urged Iran and North Korea to abandon suspected nuclear weapons programs, but disagreed over how to deal with both countries. Putin also declined to pledge any postwar help for Iraq.

Putin said any Russian contribution to Iraq’s reconstruction would depend on a U.N. resolution sought by the United States to encourage other countries to offer money and peacekeeping troops. Along with France and Germany, Russia is demanding a greater role for the United Nations in Iraq and a speedier timetable for ending the U.S. occupation.

Despite their differences, Bush and Putin emphasized their personal friendship and the great strides in U.S.-Russian relations since the Cold War.

"I like him. He’s a good fellow to spend quality time with," Bush said, standing in the warm sun of Camp David after two days of talks.

The invitation to the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains was intended to underscore their close ties, after meetings earlier during Bush’s administration at the White House and the president’s ranch in Texas.

Their show of harmony notwithstanding, Putin gave no indication he was willing to pull back from an $800 million deal to build a power plant in southern Iran. Bush has pressed Putin for two years to abandon the project, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said last week it had found new evidence that Iran was enriching uranium.

Putin said Russia would "give a clear but respectful signal to Iran about the necessity to continue and expand its cooperation" with international inspectors.

He said Russia "has no desire and no plans to contribute in any way to the development of weapons of mass destruction, either in Iran or any other country in the world."

Emphasizing agreement, Bush said, "We share a goal and that is to make sure Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon, or a nuclear weapons program."