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Bush to meet Putin to discuss missile shield plans

US President George W. Bush on Wednesday announced that he accepted an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Russia in April to discuss missile defense.

Putin invited the US leader to the Black Sea resort of Sochi to talk about US plans to deploy a missile shield in eastern Europe, Bush said.

"President Putin has invited me to go to Sochi and it's to discuss the strategic agreement, a crucial part of which is missile defense," Bush told reporters.

In what could to be their last meeting as presidents -- Putin will be succeeded on May 7 by Dmitri Medvedev, who was elected March 2 -- Bush said he would travel to Russia after his April 4 to April 5 visit to Croatia.

Bush's visits will follow the April 2 to April 4 NATO summit in Romania and a parallel NATO-Russia summit on April 4, during which the controversial enlargement of the alliance is expected to be addressed.

Bush and Putin, however, are more likely to focus their meeting on the US missile defense program their governments have been clashing over for months.

The US plans to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of an anti-missile system it says is aimed at protecting against "rogue" states such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia strongly objects to the plan it considers a national security threat and the squabble has recently taken Cold War undertones.

After visits earlier this month to Russia by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, tensions appear to have eased markedly, with both sides showing more inclination to dialogue.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said a week ago that Washington gave Moscow guarantees that its proposed anti-missile shield "will be not directed" at Russia.

Bush said about his upcoming meeting with Putin that he was "optimistic."

"I think a lot of people in Europe will take a deep sigh of relief if we are able to reach an agreement on missile defense, and hopefully we can," he said.
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