Day two of Bush-Putin meetings

Day two of Bush-Putin meetings

Bush and Putin discussed American and Russian relations Sunday, leaving the pressing international questions for today, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy advisor Sergei Prihodko, who attended the meetings.

According to Russian media, Kosovo, Iran, North Korea, and the U.S. plans of relocating elements of its anti-missile defence in eastern Europe, as well as the fight against terrorism will be the main topics of discussion tonight.

“We agreed on many questions in preparation for the summit,” Lavrov said, adding that the the two presidents would decide when and how to make them public.

“The main conclusion was that no country has the right to take international relations hostage in light of pre-election campaigns. Both presidents are focused on securing continuity and believe that they have the power to contribute to that method of developing relations,” Lavrov said.

“The meeting was really friendly. They discussed various issues in the U.S. and Russia, how the democratic systems of both countries are evolving. Everything was concrete, with good humor,” Lavrov said.

The meeting between Bush and Putin was long announced as an expected turning point in the process of determining a status solution for Kosovo, because of the recent failure of the United Nations Security Council to adopt a draft resolution based on Martti Ahtisaari’s plan.

Officials from both countries have stated that there are no high expectations for finding a significant solution during these two days of talks between Bush and Putin.

Serbian Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardžić, however, said yesterday that the meeting of the two presidents will be very important for the Kosovo status solution, adding that he expected Putin to speak in a principled manner and convincingly about continuing negotiations and finding a solution that is acceptable for both Belgrade and Priština.

UN chief hopeful of Bush-Putin meeting

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope Monday that meetings between George Bush and Vladimir Putin would lead to a “breakthrough over Kosovo's independence.”

At a news conference in Geneva, Ban said further delays to a UN Security Council vote on the Serbian province's future would be undesirable, citing concerns about peace and security in the Balkans and throughout Europe.

Ban said he hoped the meeting between Bush and Putin, which began at the Bush family's New England estate on Sunday and concludes on Monday, "will find a good solution to this issue."

Priština downplays importance of meeting

In Priština, the general sentiment regarding the Bush - Putin meeting is that it will not result in any decisions on the status of Kosovo.

This opinion is based on the fact that the U.S. and Russia have strayed too far apart in their stances on the Kosovo issue.

Political analysts in Kosovo said that Kosovo will take a back seat in the discussions to more important international problems, as well as that it was hard to imagine that a new cold war could erupt from the Kosovo question.

Priština continues to maintain optimism based on Bush’s statement as he visited Albania recently, where he said that Kosovo would become independent.

The meeting between Bush and Putin has dominated the reports in the Priština media for the last several days.