2005-2-25
I'm Steve Ember with In the News, in VOA Special English.
President Bush was in Europe this week for the first time since
his re-election in November.
On Thursday he met with Russian
President Vladimir Putin in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
They discussed Russian democracy and the fight against terrorism.
The two leaders also said Iran and North Korea should not have
nuclear weapons. On Friday Mister Putin told reporters that he is
satisfied with the meeting.
Bratislava was the last city visited by Mister Bush on his
five-day trip to Europe. In addition to Slovakia, he visited Belgium
and Germany.
President Bush said he placed importance on a free press and
observance of the rule of law during his talks with Mister Putin.
Mister Putin rejected any suggestions that Russia is restricting
democracy. In his words, "There can be no return to what we had
before." The Russian leader also says he and Mister Bush are "very
close" on a number of issues such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
They called for speeding up negotiations for Russian entry into
the World Trade Organization. They also said they would work
together on international ways to improve the safekeeping of nuclear
material.
An agreement calls for Russia and the United States to share
information about improving nuclear security. They are to jointly
develop emergency plans to fight nuclear and radiological attacks.
And they are to work together to develop a replacement for highly
enriched uranium fuel used in research reactors. The goal is to
prevent the uranium from being used to make nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, Mister Bush met in Mainz, Germany, with Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder. The German leader had strongly opposed the war in
Iraq. But Mister Schroeder says Iraq's future is what is important
now.
Mister Bush called Europe "America's closest ally." And, he said,
"in order for us to have good relations with Europe we have to have
good relations with Germany."
The two leaders agreed to cooperate on environmental issues, even
though the United States is not part of the Kyoto treaty. The United
States and Germany are to increase efforts to develop cleaner energy
technologies. The aim is to reduce pollution and the industrial
gases blamed for atmospheric warming, without limiting economic
growth.
Several thousand demonstrators marched in Mainz to protest the
visit by Mister Bush. There were also protests earlier in Brussels,
the headquarters of the European Union and NATO. There, the
president met with European Union leaders. And the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization announced that all twenty-six of its members
would help train Iraqi security forces. But several nations,
including Germany, say they only want to do training outside Iraq.
In The News, in VOA Special English, was written by Jerilyn
Watson. I'm Steve Ember.