US President Barack Obama (L) meets with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow July 7, 2009. [Agencies]
MOSCOW: US?President Barack Obama, meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for the first time, voiced confidence Tuesday that Washington and Moscow can improve relations with "mutual respect and consultation."
|
US President Barack Obama (L) meets with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow July 7, 2009. [Agencies] |
Putin told his guest: "With you, we link our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries."
The prime minister greeted Obama for talks on a clear, sunny morning at Nova Ogaryovo, Putin's white and yellow traditional Russian-style mansion nestled amid a forest of pine, birch and linden.
The body language was positive for both Obama and Putin, who had traded sharp barbs in the days preceding the US president's flight to Moscow.
As the two appeared for a picture-taking session before commencing their private talks, Obama told Putin he "appreciated you taking the time to meet with me." For his part, Putin noted that US-Russian relations have been marked by periods of chill, as well as times of relative warmth. And he said he was "glad to have the opportunity to get acquainted" with Obama, who is making his first trip to Russia.
The visit came a day after Obama held talks with President Dmitry Medvedev and they agreed that the two countries would seek by year's end to cut their nuclear stockpiles by up to a third. Obama told Putin he thought he had had "excellent discussions" on Monday with Medvedev.
But Obama also said he recognizes that "we may not agree on everything."
The two leaders appeared together in an ornate room of Putin's country home, sitting in chairs placed in front of a highly colored traditional Russian ceramic stove that at one time would heated the room.
At the end of their brief meeting before reporters, Putin took Obama to a nearby window and pointed out a large outdoor balcony where they were to sit for their meetings over breakfast. The session took place on a clear day, in marked contrast to the cool, rain weather that Moscow saw for several days previously.
Putin's remarks seemed particularly cordial given his tart response last week to a comment that Obama made about him in an interview with The Associated Press. Obama said last Thursday that Putin still had one foot in the old, Cold War of doing things, and the prime minister retorted that he thought that observation to be quite a stretch.
Putin was accompanied at Tuesday's meeting by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. National security adviser Jim Jones and Russian adviser Michael McFaul were among those who accompanied Obama.