Bush and Putin face off over missiles

George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting face to face as world leaders for the final time, hit an impasse last week over plans for a U.S. missile shield in Europe. The U.S. insists the system is intended to stave off possible attacks from Iran. But Russia says its own weapons systems would be vulnerable, and Putin wants Russian inspectors to have access to the facilities. “Our fundamental attitude to the American plans has not changed,” Putin said at the meeting in Sochi, Russia. Bush also met with Putin’s designated successor, Dmitri Medvedev, and said the two countries would continue to discuss the issue.

The U.S. and Russia did sign a pledge to cooperate on other matters, including arms-control negotiations, trade, and deterring the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Bush and Putin, who have met 28 times since 2001, complimented each other frequently and addressed each other by first name. “It’s a little bit of nostalgia,” said Bush.

Bush is “clearly looking for a better foreign policy legacy than just the disastrous Iraq war,” said The New York Times in an editorial. But he has refused to take steps such as reducing the U.S. nuclear arsenal that would reassure Russia. While Bush “should be commended for trying to put the relationship with Russia on a better track,” he remains “too wedded to Cold War fears to chart a truly new course.”

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Poor George Bush, said Simon Tisdall in the London Guardian. Putin “has once again slammed the door” in his face. Bush actually offered Putin some concessions on the monitoring issue, but Putin had no reason to budge.

Not only is Bush a true lame duck (while Putin will continue to the pull strings after he steps down), but Putin’s opposition to the missile plan is popular throughout most of Western Europe. So naturally, “Putin sent him away empty-handed.”

If Putin is “paranoid” about U.S. intentions, it’s not without reason, said James Carroll in The Boston Globe. Instead of dismantling its “military juggernaut” after the Cold War, the U.S. expanded NATO into Eastern Europe and went to war against Russia’s ally, Serbia. Now, by pursuing a missile-defense shield, “Washington is again pursuing self-defeating policies that make escalations of tension with Moscow more likely instead of less.”