Bush, Putin Reaffirm Unity on North Korea

U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin today reaffirmed the unity of the nations negotiating with North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, Nov. 17).

Bush and Putin met during the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum conference in Busan, South Korea. They “talked about ... how having all the (five) parties speaking in one voice was important,” said White House Counselor Dan Bartlett. The five nations are China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Bartlett did not say whether the two leaders explicitly discussed sequencing of disarmament steps by Pyongyang in relation to rewards from the other parties, including a light-water nuclear reactor the North has demanded for energy generation (Kyodo, Nov. 18).

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