Putin Sets Positive Tone in Powell Talks
May 14, 2003 01:59 PM EDT 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, 
right, greets U.S. Secretary of State 
Colin Powell during their meeting at
the Kremlin in Moscow, Wednesday,
May 14, 2003. Powell arrived in 
Moscow early Wednesday for two 
days of high-level talks with Russian
officials to discuss postwar Iraq and
the U.S.-Russian presidential summit
later this month in St. Petersburg.
(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) 		 MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to move past the U.S.-Russian split over the Iraq war and edged closer to the Bush administration over technology sales to Iran. 

But the two sides on Wednesday did not settle their disagreement over lifting U.N. sanctions against Iraq. Secretary of State Colin Powell said they had not resolved the issue of weapons searches, and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov stressed Russia's insistence on a "legal basis" for governmental transition in Baghdad. 

Determined to set a positive agenda for President Bush's talks June 1 in St. Petersburg with Putin, Powell met with Putin at the Kremlin and three times with Ivanov, plus dinner with the foreign minister. 

"We could congratulate each other," Putin said as the Russian Duma, or lower house of parliament, approved a pact with the United States to cut long-range nuclear warheads by two-thirds over the next 10 years. It was ratified by the U.S. Senate in March. 

Putin went on to declare "we have had a lot of arguments recently concerning the Iraq problem, but we have successfully overcome these differences," referring to Russia's objections to the war with Iraq. 

The split did not shake the "basic foundation of our bilateral relationship," he said. 
 
 
Powell acknowledged disagreements in the recent past, "especially with respect to Iraq, but now, I think, we have the opportunity to move forward and all of us join together to help the Iraqi people to a better life." 

Still, while the United States wants an unconditional lifting of penalties against Iraq, the Russians want only a suspension as well as a continuation of U.N. weapons searches. 

Ivanov said the priority now "is to create a legal basis for a broad international involvement in postwar rehabilitation" of Iraq. This appeared to reflect Moscow's position favoring a prominent role for the United Nations in rebuilding Iraq after the U.S.-led war topple Saddam Hussein's government. 

At an economic conference in Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov said the U.S. resolution that would lift sanctions immediately and phase out the oil-for-food program is "a very difficult resolution for us." 

Russia's objective, he said, is to "bring to a minimum our economic losses and political losses from this resolution." 

Russia "proceeds from the assumption that all approved contracts must be fulfilled or compensated in an appropriate way," Fedotov said. He placed the value of Russian contracts with Iraq at $4 billion. 

Putin called his meeting with Powell "a good opportunity to check our watches" before he sees Bush in June. He said the Duma's ratification of the arms accord was an accomplishment for both countries. 

But ahead of that meeting, Russian technology sales to Iran pose a potential snarl. The Russians are resisting ending the sales despite urgent appeals by Washington, which argues that the technology significantly aids Iran's nuclear weapons aspirations. The standoff is preventing resolution of the most contentious dispute in the U.S.-Russian relationship. 

Without elaboration, Powell said, "We have come a little closer as to how we should deal with our concerns." 

The International Atomic Energy Agency has found that Iran has a vibrant weapons program, and Powell had hoped this evidence would help change minds when he met with the Russian leaders. 

On the U.N. resolution, Russia wants assurances that Iraq's alleged banned weapons - the main reason Bush gave for going to war - are not being hidden, before Moscow will support removing the sanctions. Also in dispute is the role of U.N. weapons inspectors. The Bush administration sees no further use for them and is resorting to its own specialists to continue its search. 

Putin hopes to strike a deal with Bush for cooperation in missile defense systems, having yielded to Bush's abandonment of the 1972 treaty that banned national missile defenses. Approval of the arms reduction pact may help.