Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 6, 2007

Bush Says Russia Will Not Attack Europe
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=17BB6DE:A6F02AD83191E16079D727E8537413529574F7DCC14957C0 President Bush, in
Germany for G8 meeting, says 'America is not at war with Russia and
Russia is not a threat'





President Bush greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, in
Heiligendamm, Germany at the start of the G-8 Summit, 06 Jun
2007Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening to aim missiles at
new targets in Europe if America goes through with plans for a missile
defense program. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports,
U.S. President George Bush says there would be no military response to
Russia retargeting missiles because the countries are not at war.

President Bush is trying to ease Russia's concerns about the missile
defense plan which would base a radar station in the Czech Republic
and U.S. Interceptor missiles in Poland.

President Putin says it is the start of a new arms race, and he will
not be responsible for retaliatory steps if the plan goes through. Mr.
Putin told reporters in Moscow that Russia would respond by setting
new targets in Europe that could be hit with ballistic missiles or
cruise missiles or what he called a completely new system.

President Bush says he will try to ease President Putin's concerns
when they meet at the G8 summit here in Germany.

In an off-camera interview with White House reporters before the start
of the summit, President Bush said Russia is not going to attack
Europe. He said there needs to be no U.S. military response if Russia
retargets its missiles, because America is not at war with Russia and
Russia is not a threat.

Asked if the increasingly heated rhetoric over the missile defense
plan could make for a tense meeting with the Russian president, Mr.
Bush said he will work to see that it is not tense.

The president has been addressing Russian concerns since this trip
began in Prague. Following talks with the Czech president and prime
minister Tuesday, President Bush said Russia has nothing to fear from
the missile defense plan.

"Russia is not our enemy. The enemy of free societies such as ours
would be radicals or extremists or a rogue regime trying to blackmail
the free world in order to promote its ideological objectives," he
said. "My attitude on missile defense, not my attitude, this is the
truth, it is a purely defensive measure aimed not at Russia but at
true threats."

U.S. officials say the missile defense plan is primarily aimed at
stopping missiles from Iran.

Iran's top security official calls that the joke of the year. Supreme
National Security Council chief Ali Larijani told Iran's state-run
news agency that the country does not have missiles capable of
reaching Europe.

President Putin agrees, saying he does not believe there are real
threats from Iranian or North Korean missiles, so he says the American
plan could be an effort to undermine Russia's relations with Europe.