MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin said in a statement timed to America's Independence Day that he was certain relations between Russia and the United States would improve despite fresh tensions.
The U.S. has accused Russia of backing away from democratic reforms, and the Kremlin vehemently objects to U.S. plans to deploy elements of a missile defense system in former Soviet Bloc countries.
"We look with certainty to the future of mutually satisfactory working together. I am sure that, despite known disagreements, which are unavoidable in an open and honest dialogue, the policy of comprehensive development of bilateral ties in all areas will continue," Putin said in a Fourth of July greeting to Bush, released by the Kremlin while Putin was in Guatemala. It's not unusual for Putin to send greetings to a world leader on a major national holiday.
During a visit to Maine this week, Putin and President Bush met in an effort to halt the deterioration in U.S.-Russian relations. In a sign of some progress, the two countries pledged Tuesday to reduce their stockpiles of long-range nuclear weapons "to the lowest possible" level.
Meanwhile, one of the leading contenders to succeed Putin in next year's presidential elections warned that Russia would put new missiles in western Russia if Washington continued with its plans to set up the missile defense system with components in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The U.S. says the system is to counter future threats from Iran and North Korea.
Putin offered a second proposal on Monday: modernize the capabilities of a Russian-operated radar in Azerbaijan, as well as link to the system a new radar facility being built in southern Russia. He also proposed making the shield more regional by bringing in NATO and setting up joint early warning missile launch centers.
"If the proposal is accepted, then Russia will not have need to base new rocket forces in the European part of Russia, in Kaliningrad, in order to parry the threats which will arise from the missile defense system," Sergei Ivanov, a first deputy prime minister and former defense minister, was quoted as saying by ITAR-Tass on Wednesday.
"If our proposal is not accepted, we will take adequate measures. An asymmetrical and effective response will be found. We know that we will do this," Ivanov was quoted by Interfax as saying.
But if the proposal is accepted, he said, "you will forget about the term 'Cold War.' It will simply disappear. There simply won't be cause for speaking of it."
Both Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in recent months have rejected suggestions that a new Cold War is under way. But the comments by Ivanov, noted for his hawkish views, could reflect the sentiment of more hard-line factions in the Kremlin.
Putin has also said Russia could deploy missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders Poland and is Russia's westernmost region, if the U.S. pushes ahead with its missile defense plans.
Polish Defense Ministry spokesman Jaroslaw Rybak said Russia had made similar threats before Poland joined NATO in 1999.
"I think this is just another step, and the Russians want to show that on the one hand they want to cooperate and then on the other hand they threaten," Rybak said on Poland's TVN24 television.
