St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 5

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2003 ST. LOUIS POST-DISfiflTCH At Camp David talks, Bush will be asking Putin for help a Vs 'T k. IS m' iMiil iiijij mi in 1 1 mm innmiin umi i Ill fc 11 i If uli mmnrni by Tom Raum The Associated Press WASHINGTON President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin met Friday at Camp David to begin discussions on their differences over postwar Iraq and Iran's nuclear program, among other topics. They were expected to play down those disputes and emphasize economic and antiterrorism cooperation.

Bush will appeal for Russia's help on a new U.N. resolution on sharing the burden of the reconstruction of and keeping the peace in Iraq. Bush also will renew his objections to Russia's role in helping Iran to build its first nuclear power plant, aides said. Putin opposed the U.S. war in Iraq and expressed distress over the continuing conflict U.S.

officials were heartened, however, that Putin's criticism of the U.S. occupation of Iraq was relatively muted in his U.N. speech this week. Putin has ruled out sending Russian troops in a peacekeeping force, but analysts suggest that he may offer limited help, offering soldiers as advisers, perhaps to train police. The two leaders also were expected to discuss Russia's oil resources.

U.S. officials see rising Russian oil exports as an alternative to volatile Middle Eastern supplies. Despite their policy disagreements, Bush and Putin have maintained warm personal ties. Putin was spending Friday evening and much of Saturday at the secluded presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains northwest of Washington. The Russian president arrived a half-hour late on a sunny fall afternoon.

A column of Navy sailors and Marines greeted the two presidents, who walked to face a phalanx of reporters. "Glad you're here," Bush said as he threw an arm around a smiling Putin. The two then shook hands with a small group of aides, including White House chief of staff Andrew Card, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Bush drove a golf cart, and Putin got in beside him. Ahead of the meeting, Putin visited the New York Stock Exchange.

He said he hoped for "a breakthrough in our business partnership," even while criticizing U.S. trade restrictions that are vestiges of the Cold War. In comments broadcast back home on Russian television, Putin called the restrictions archaic and said, "It is obvious that this causes damage to our relationship." Bush has asked Congress to lift the so-called Jackson-Vanik restrictions, imposed in 1974 to expedite the emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union to Israel. Congress has not acted because of disputes over the Iraq war and U.S. poultry exports.

Administration officials said Bush would renew U.S. objections to Russia's nuclear assistance to Iran. They claim Russian technology is helping Iran develop nuclear weapons. Russia, and Iran, insist it is helping to build only a power plant for electricity production. Putin told U.S.

reporters in Moscow last weekend that Russia planned to go ahead and sign contracts for the Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran. He also urged Iran to sign an agreement with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to allow unfettered inspections of nuclear sites. "If Iran is not striving to develop nuclear weapons, it has nothing to hide. I see no grounds for refusing to sign these (documents)," Putin said.

The $800 million plant is expected to be ready for operation by 2005. "The international community is coming together, recognizing the seriousness of Iran's pursuit of nu- J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President George W. Bush and his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, leave the White House Oval Office Friday to board a helicopter for a flight to the Camp David retreat. There, Bush and Rice warmly greeted visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

clear weapons," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. Still, McClellan suggested the two presidents would be able to find much common ground. "There is a new strategic relationship with Russia that the two presidents have worked together to develop," the spokesman said. Putin opposed the war in Iraq alongside France and Germany and has demanded a greater U.N. role in reconstruction than the United States wants.

raphers and reporters at bay as U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, greeted Putin at the curb of the full-service station, then accompanied him inside, where food is sold. "When I showed the president of Russia a Krispy Kreme doughnut and he ate it and said it was good, that was one of the more surreal moments I've had in politics," Schumer said. Putin made no public remarks and stayed only 10 minutes.

Reuters contributed to this Russian service station Putin snacked on a glazed doughnut as he opened a service station in New York Friday. Russian-owned Lukoil Oil Co. acquired Getty Petroleum and its 100 U.S. gasoline stations in November 2000, and the Manhattan station is one of about ISO in the Northeast that Lukoil will rebrand over the next two years. Bright red Lukoil flags fluttered and U.S.

and Russian security men in dark suits held bemused photog Laura Bush hopes to counter resentment of U.S. on trip to France, Russia Washington, followed on Oct. 6 by a state dinner at the White House honoring Kenya's president A week later, she will head to the annual summit meeting of wives of leaders of Western Hemisphere nations before joining her husband, President George W. Bush, on a long tour to Asia "I think if going to be fun and interesting," Mrs. Bush said Friday of the upcoming trip.

Most of the fun, however, will have to be had during official events. Except for an evening at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater for a performance of the tllet "Don Quixote," there's scarcely time for purely personal pleasures. 'Tm not going to get to go out to dinner by myself somewhere, I don't think," she said with a laugh. Even making advance wardrobe additions came with the anxiety of knowing she would be closely scrutinized by the fashionable French. "I have a lot of new clothes," Mrs.

Bush added, kidding only slightly and taking care to note that they are all by American designers. Most of her preparation, though, focused on more serious matters. Mrs. Putin's book festival highlights children's literature. So Mrs.

Bush chose three highly popular American writers of books for young people to accompany her on the trip: R.L. Stine of the Goose-bumps series; Peter Lerangis, author of teen thrillers and a collaborator on the Baby-Sitters Club series; and Marc Brown, known for his Arthur the aardvark illustrations. During a roundtable on "Books, Family and Education," Mrs. Bush plans to talk about some of her favorite classics such as "Little Women" and the Laura Ingalls Wilder books "that I think really the values of America." By Jennifer Loven The Associated Press WASHINGTON On her third solo foreign trip, Laura Bush hopes to "let people around the world know what we are really like" to counter resentment about the Iraq war and America's pre-eminent international role. On a lighter side, she says that representing American style in the fashion hub of Paris feels "a little intimidating" even after a re-trip shopping spree.

Mrs. Bush leaves Sunday for a five-day jaunt to Paris and Mos cow. In Paris, shell preside over ceremonies marking the United States' re-entry into the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after a 19-year absence. She will also make what is being termed a social call on French President Jacques Chirac In Moscow, she will attend the first book festival being put on by fellow bookworm Lyudmila Putin, wife of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The event is inspired by festivals Mrs. Bush has hosted. Mrs. Bush's own book festival is scheduled for next weekend in.