Bush to Meet Putin, Iraq on Agenda Story aired: Friday, May 30, 2003
Before President Bush heads to the G8 economic summit in France next week, he'll make a stop in St. Petersburg, a city celebrating its 300th anniversary, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Now, the Russian winter may be over, but if Putin's recent meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair is any indicator, Bush may still be in for some frost.
Putin was icy with Blair on the subject of the war in Iraq, which was overwhelmingly opposed by Russians, leaving Putin little to lose domestically by taking a hard line again with the U.S. president
The Russian leader may pose to Bush the same kind of questions Tony Blair got: where are the weapons of mass destruction? Where's Saddam Hussein? Why the continuing disarray in Iraq? And what about the billions Russia's still owed by that country?
Fred Weir of the Christian Science Monitor joins Here and now to preview the upcoming meeting.
