WRAP Putin arrival, meeting Bush, missile agreement

(24 Feb 2005) 1. Various of Russian President Vladimir Putin’’s plane arriving on tarmac 2. Honour guard standing at attention 3. Russian government seal 4. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila disembark plane 5. Various of Putin and wife glad-handing with Russian and Slovak officials 6. Various of Putin getting into car 7. Car drives off 8. Bratislava Castle 9. (Left to Right) US President George W. Bush, Slovakia President Ivan Gasparovic, and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive with spouses at their side 10. The three presidents walk the red carpet, pose for photos, enter castle 11. Bush and Putin shake hands 12. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov sit down, zoom to rice 13. Ivanov 14. Various of Rice signing an agreement on exchanges of information on portable anti-aircraft missile systems, pan to Ivanov signing 15. Rice and Ivanov shake hands STORYLINE: President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin sought common ground when they met in Slovakia on Thursday on keeping conventional and nuclear weapons out of the hands of extremists, a positive note in talks likely to raise sensitive questions about Russia’’s support of Iran and democratic rollbacks. Both leaders entered discussions cautiously, wanting to air their grievances without undercutting generally improved relations between the old Cold War nuclear rivals who are cooperating in the war on terror. As the leaders opened talks at a castle overlooking the Danube River, aides inked an agreement designed to counter nuclear terrorism, in part by restricting the availability of shoulder-fired missiles capable of bringing down aircraft. In their first encounter since Bush’’s inauguration for a second term, U.S. administration officials said the two leaders were expected to embrace new new measures to combat nuclear terrorism and better safeguard atomic weapons arsenals. The pair flanked Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic as they walked through the castle courtyard and into their closed-door session in the capital of this nation that once was part of the communist East Bloc. Bush was expected to press Putin to do more to promote democratic change in Russia. Bush prefaced his meeting with the Russia leader with a speech in a crowded town square hailing the spread of democracy to former Soviet republics like Slovakia. High on the agenda are US concerns over Putin’’s moves to solidify his power and clamp down on civil and press liberties. Also drawing US alarm are Putin’’s attempts to influence elections in Ukraine, Russian arms sales to Syria and the Kremlin’’s close ties to Iran. But Bush seeks to balance those concerns with a desire for continued cooperation on security issues such as terrorism, weapons proliferation and energy. For their part, Russian officials dislike what they see as US meddling in their internal affairs and in former Soviet republics where Moscow’’s influence is waning as some new leaders look westward. Putin has sent mixed signals - offering conciliatory talk aimed at boosting Russia’’s international standing and its chances for membership in the World Trade Organisation, but at other times saying America has double standards on terrorism and is seeking to spread a dubious form of democracy. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: