Bush seeks to allay fears about defence system

GERMANY:President George Bush has urged Russia not to fear a US missile defence system and to strengthen democracy, ahead of his meeting today with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin at the G8 summit in Germany.

Visiting Prague, Mr Bush sought to soothe Moscow after Mr Putin warned that US plans to build a long-range radar in the Czech Republic and place interceptor missiles in Poland could start another cold war and spark a new arms race.

"The cold war is over. It ended," Mr Bush said, before seeking to allay fears in Moscow that Russia is the real target for a system the Pentagon says is intended to neutralise the threat of missiles launched by "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.

"Why not send your generals over to see how such a system would work? Send your scientists, let us have the ability to discuss this issue in an open forum," Mr Bush said in an appeal to the Kremlin. "Russia is not our enemy."

Amid peaceful protests in Prague and a number of surveys showing that most Czechs oppose the radar, Mr Bush insisted the country would not be caught in a tug-of-war between Washington and Moscow.

"The people of the Czech Republic don't have to choose between being a friend of the United States or a friend with Russia. You can be both," Mr Bush said alongside Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek and President Vaclav Klaus in Prague Castle.

Mr Klaus praised his guest's pledge to try and win round Mr Putin when they meet on the sidelines of the G8 summit.

"My message will be Vladimir - I call him Vladimir - that you shouldn't fear a missile defence system," Mr Bush said.

"As a matter of fact, why don't you co-operate with us on a missile defence system? Why don't you participate with the United States?"

Addressing a Prague conference on democracy, however, Mr Bush criticised the progress of reform under Mr Putin.

"In Russia, reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development," he said, while insisting that "America can maintain a friendship and push a nation toward democracy at the same time". Mr Bush criticised perennial targets Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, and said allies such as Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia had "a great distance still to travel" on the road to democracy.

He also took a swipe at Chinese leaders "who believe that they can continue to open the nation's economy without also opening its political system".

On the streets of Prague, however, where hundreds of people protested against the radar plan when Mr Bush arrived on Monday night, there was little enthusiasm for the missile defence system or talk of encouraging democracy from the man who invaded Iraq.

"Bush is not welcome here," said communist activist Marta Semelova. "First of all, we are against the radar. Second, he is responsible for a series of war crimes including the intervention in Iraq."