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Shift missile shield, Putin tells Bush

HEILIGENDAMM (Germany): Russian President Vladimir Putin, bitterly opposed to a planned U.S. missile shield in Europe, told U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday that Moscow would drop its objections if the radar-based system were installed in Azerbaijan.

Mr. Putin told Mr. Bush he would not seek to retarget Russian missiles on Europe if the U.S. agreed to put the system in the central Asian nation of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic. Mr. Bush's National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley called it an ``interesting proposal. Let's let our experts have a look at it.''

Common work

Mr. Bush has proposed putting the radar and rockets in the Czech Republic and Poland. ``This will create grounds for common work,'' Mr. Putin told Mr. Bush as they met on the sidelines of a summit of the world's eight major industrialised democracies being held at this seaside resort.

Mr. Bush, speaking before Mr. Putin, said the Russian President had presented some interesting suggestions and that they would pursue the issue during two days of talks beginning July 1 in Kennebunkport, Maine, at the Bush family's oceanfront compound.

``We both agreed to have a strategic dialogue,'' Mr. Bush said. ``This is a serious issue.''

Mr. Putin's proposal to put the system in Azerbaijan was a surprise. He said the proposed relocation would alleviate Russia's concerns about a missile shield based in Europe. He said it would cover all of Europe rather than part it. Mr. Hadley did not rule out the possibility that the end result would be some mix of the Russian and the U.S. proposals. ``We asked the Russians to cooperate with us on missile defence, and what we got was a willingness to do so,'' he said after the Bush-Putin meeting. — AP

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