In accordance with an earlier agreement, the Russian President briefed his counterpart on the main results of the recent G8 summit in Genoa and on the results of his meeting with US President George W. Bush and the follow-up Russian-American contacts on strategic stability. He stressed the importance of a substantive dialogue with the United States on offensive and defensive weapons. The Russian head of state said that the principled Russian stand on the problems of anti-missile defence remained unchanged.
In conclusion, Jiang Zemin asked Mr Putin to convey warm greetings to the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, who were planning to meet for an informal CIS summit in Sochi in a few days.