BUSH, PUTIN DISCUSS ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD, BILATERAL RELATIONS

BRDO KOD KRANJA, June 16 (Hina) - US President George Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met for talks at the Brdo kod Kranja castle in Slovenia on Saturday. During the meeting, which lasted more than two and a half hours, the two heads of state discussed, among else, a US proposal on an anti-missile shield and bilateral relations. The two presidents told a news conference after the meeting that talks on the most controversial issue between the two countries, the anti-missile shield, would continue at the level of ministers and experts. The Americans want a revision of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 which they believe is essential for building an anti- missile shield. Putin said that "the new threats" because of which the USA wanted to build an anti-missile shield could be considered. "Experts have to define those threats," he said. The two statesmen described their meeting as constructive and stressed that differences in their countries' policies "are not of a fundamental nature". "Differences in our views are not of a fundamental nature," Putin told reporters. "Russia and the United States are not enemies," he said, repeating the words of his US counterpart. (hina) rml