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Bush proposes joint NMD
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IN a letter sent to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday, US President George Walker Bush proposed the two countries jointly develop missile defence systems instead of the Washington-desired national missile defence (NMD) shield.
The message was conveyed by US Republican Congressman Kurt Weldon, who is heading a US Congress delegation on a visit to Russia.
Bush offered in his message a project for jointly developing a missile defence system, Weldon told reporters.
The United States and Russia could join hands in research into various aspects of missile defence, place orders with Russian enterprises for the production of its elements, and create a common missile defence control system in the future, the congressman said.
This was the first time that the new US administration made a constructive suggestion to Moscow over its missile defence plans, backing off the worldwide-criticized unilateral NMD programme.
Weldon handed the letter during his meeting with Boris Gryzlov, head of the pro-Putin Unity party faction in the State Duma, lower house of the Russian parliament.
Gryzlov told journalists after Monday's meeting that the main purpose of the dialogue is to prevent a US unilateral withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty.
Bush's new idea show some positive changes and something placatory in the US policy on ABM issue, observers said.(Xinhua)
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