Russian commentators on Monday praised Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush for establishing a good personal relationship at their summit in Slovenia but warned that the hard work was yet to come.
Daily newspaper Izvestia observed that neither president had "tried to smash or fool the other" at the meeting at Brdo Castle, near Ljubljana. "
"The Russian-American dialogue continues. Russia and the United States are no longer enemies and can sometimes even be allies," the paper noted.
Izvestia editor Mikhail Kozhokhin, quoted by the English-languge Russia Journal, had on Sunday described the approach of both sides as "pragmatic".
"The key phrase was Putin's, about a 'pragmatic partnership,'" Kozhokin said. "Both presidents are pragmatists, they have well-formed, schematic world views. They are practical politicians who see the problems that must be solved as quickly as possible."
But he noted that the summit did not clarify who, in Bush's foreign policy team, would get the upper hand -- a faction he described as "anti-Russian" and those he said were "pragmatists" who recognised the need to engage with Russia -- MOSCOW (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
