President Bush Accepts Meeting For Missile-Defense Talks in Russia

WASHINGTON — President Bush said yesterday he will meet with President Putin of Russia next week in Russia to try to break a logjam between the two nations over a proposed American missile defense system. "I think a lot of people in Europe would have a deep sigh of relief if we're able to reach an accord on missile defense," Mr. Bush said during an interview with foreign journalists. Mr. Bush is accepting Mr. Putin's invitation for a meeting in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on April 6, to come at the end of the president's trip that starts Monday to Ukraine, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Bucharest, Romania, and Croatia. It will likely be the last meeting between Mr. Bush and the Russian leader before Mr. Putin leaves office. Mr. Putin's successor as Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, takes office at the beginning of May.

Mr. Bush said he and Mr. Putin would discuss the missile defense system that America plans to base in Central Europe. It would involve 10 interceptor missiles based in Poland and a tracking radar system in the Czech Republic. Moscow has been vehemently opposed to the idea, with increasingly confrontational rhetoric coming from Moscow. But there have been signs of cooling recently and Mr. Bush told reporters that he saw an opportunity to build on that.