Bush, Putin agree to cut nuclear arms

WASHINGON -- President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin both pledged Tuesday to slash Cold War-era nuclear arsenals by two-thirds, to levels unseen in decades, but remained at odds over American plans to develop a missile defense shield.

"Together, we're making history as we make progress," Bush said after three hours of summitry at the White House. "We're transforming our relationship from one of hostility and suspicion to one based on cooperation and trust."

"We no longer have to intimidate each other to reach agreements," Putin said a few hours later. "Security is created not by piles of metal or weapons. It is created by political will of people, nation states and their leaders."

Bush said the United States could be left with as few as 1,700 nuclear warheads. Putin did not mention any figures, but has previously suggested going as low as 1,500.

In private talks, a special White House tour and an East Room news conference, the leaders opened a three-day visit that will focus on the budding U.S.-Russian alliance against terrorism and nagging differences over the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The talks move today to Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, where U.S. officials held out some hope for accord on the missile shield issue. Both leaders indicated their relationship had buried vestiges of the Cold War, drawn together by their need to fight terrorism.

In his fourth meeting with the U.S. president, Putin urged his own citizens to stop looking at American relations "from the old standpoint, distrust and the enmity." On the question of allowing U.S. forces to use Central Asia as a base into Afghanistan, the Russian president said: "We have nothing to be afraid of."

Earlier, Bush took Putin on an unscheduled tour of the White House, including its swimming pool and the South Lawn tree swing where Amy Carter and the Kennedy children once played. They ducked into a Cabinet Room meeting with their respective delegations, where Bush heaped Putin with praise.

"You're the kind of guy I like to have in a foxhole with me," Bush said, according to a participant.

Common ground

Finding plenty of common ground, the leaders urged Afghanistan's U.S.-backed opposition fighters to use restraint while liberating the nation's capital of Kabul, and called for a multiethnic post-Taliban government. They brushed aside reports northern alliance forces were executing prisoners of war.

In a blizzard of paper, the pair formalized a series of agreements to combat bioterrorism, bolster the Russian economy, battle money laundering that finances terrorism and strengthen Russia's ties to NATO -- the 19-member military alliance formed to counter Moscow in the Cold War.

It was the issue of weapons that underscored their greatest agreement and disagreement.

Bush, who promised in the presidential campaign to significantly reduce U.S. nuclear stockpiles regardless of whether Russia reciprocated, announced his intention to slash the nation's long-range nuclear arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 weapons over the next decade.

The United States currently has about 7,000 nuclear warheads. Russia has about 5,800, but can't afford to keep all of them.

Bush called his proposal "fully consistent with American security."

Putin replied cautiously at first, telling reporters at the White House he would "try to respond in kind."

A few hours later, speaking to an audience at the Russian Embassy that included Secretary of State Colin Powell, he said Russia proposed a "radical program of further reductions of strategic arms by at least three times" -- a two-thirds reduction, several Russian officials quickly explained afterwards. Putin said that would leave a "minimal level necessary for maintaining strategic balance in the world."

Under Bush's plan, warheads would be removed from U.S. missiles but would not be fully dismantled, advisers said. The physical job of removing the warheads is time-consuming, which is why Bush set a 10-year time frame.

Signs of discord

There were small signs of discord.

Putin said he wanted the nuclear targets in writing, "including the issues of verification and control." The U.S. president said it was enough that he had "looked the man in the eye and shook his hand." But Bush said he would be willing to put the agreement in writing.

There was no mention of U.S. opposition to Russia's practice of selling arms to Iran, a notable omission given that the issue is one of the most contentious in the relationship.

Ongoing missile defense

On the ABM treaty, Bush hopes to persuade Putin to allow the United States to proceed with research and development of a missile shield without declaring the work a violation of the 1972 pact. In exchange, Bush promised Putin to keep Russia informed of the tests.

"The position of Russia remains unchanged," Putin said of his government's objection to scrapping the treaty that bars national missile defenses.

U.S. officials said the proposal would give both men what they want: Bush could begin developing a missile shield and Putin could tell his public that he kept the ABM intact. Putin said he was open to discussing the issue with Bush in Crawford.

"I believe that it's too early to draw the line on the discussions," said Putin, who had a full schedule in Washington and Houston before joining Bush at the ranch late Wednesday. He was leaving Crawford on Thursday afternoon.

Bush told Putin last month in China that he was prepared to announce as early as January that the United States was pulling out of the ABM.

The warning was designed to force Putin into a decision. The pledge Tuesday to unilaterally reduce U.S. nuclear arms is viewed as an incentive for Putin to compromise on the ABM.

Bush is being pressured by fellow Republicans to scrap the treaty. "The United States cannot deploy missile defenses unless and until it fully extricates itself" from the ABM, said a letter to Bush from GOP Senate leaders.

Powell suggested there will not be an agreement on the ABM anytime soon.