When Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin faced the press after their meeting at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm on Thursday, it seemed for a while that their encounter had produced little but platitudes.
"There are a lot of people who do not like it when the US and Russia argue and it creates tensions," said Mr Bush. "It's much better to work together."
But when Mr Putin took his turn to speak, it became clear that their talks had been more substantive than Mr Bush's remarks implied.
Mr Putin explained he had proposed the use of a former Soviet radar base in Azerbaijan as an alternative to the controversial missile defence facilities the US is planning to build in central Europe.
The offer raised the prospect of unprecedented military co-operation between the US and Russia and provided a potential solution to their bitter dispute over missile defence. But after the two leaders finished their news conference, it was obvious the proposal had caught the US by surprise.
Stephen Hadley, US national security adviser, huddled with other senior White House aides before briefing reporters about the Russian plan. "It is a bold proposal. We have to have our experts look at it."
Three days earlier in Prague, Mr Bush had invited Russia to "participate" in the US missile defence programme, as part of efforts to reassure Moscow that its ballistic missile arsenal was not the target of the technology.
But it is almost certain that outsourcing a crucial part of the US missile defence system to a former Soviet state was not what Mr Bush had in mind.
Washington must now establish whether the proposal signals serious Russian interest in taking part in the missile shield and narrowing differences with the US, or whether it is a spoiling tactic designed to stall the programme and divide Washington from its central European allies.
Mr Hadley sought to promote the former interpretation, arguing that the Putin plan indicated that Moscow had now accepted that it could benefit from a US missile shield.
"The goal, obviously, is a system that will protect Russia, the United States and Europe from these kinds of rogue state threats," he said, referring to hostile countries that could one day develop nuclear weapons.
Mr Putin's proposal involves a radar station in Gabala, Azerbaijan, that has remained jointly operated by Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
He views it as a potential substitute for the planned US radar in the Czech Republic that Moscow opposes. But Mr Hadley said the US remained committed to both the Czech site and a proposed base for missile interceptors in Poland.
Mr Putin and Mr Bush have a chance to narrow their differences when the Russian leader travels to the US for more talks with his counterpart at the Bush family summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, next month
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Much to Bush's suprise he asked for cooperation and got it in spades. The facility is perfect for detecting missle launches of the type supposedly concerning Bush. Being in old USSR territory, Putin has some control over the situation, so any threat Russia may have been concerned with is somewhat abated.
Fly in the ointment? Bush will want complete control over the situation, but he'll have to share it. Bush's compromises tend to run in the flavor of "I am glad to let you do exactly what I tell you."
He'll have to wiggle out of this as his ego won't abide this. I wonder what excuses will be made.
"There are a lot of people who do not like it when the US and Russia argue and it creates tensions," said Mr Bush. "It's much better to work together."
But when Mr Putin took his turn to speak, it became clear that their talks had been more substantive than Mr Bush's remarks implied.
Mr Putin explained he had proposed the use of a former Soviet radar base in Azerbaijan as an alternative to the controversial missile defence facilities the US is planning to build in central Europe.
The offer raised the prospect of unprecedented military co-operation between the US and Russia and provided a potential solution to their bitter dispute over missile defence. But after the two leaders finished their news conference, it was obvious the proposal had caught the US by surprise.
Stephen Hadley, US national security adviser, huddled with other senior White House aides before briefing reporters about the Russian plan. "It is a bold proposal. We have to have our experts look at it."
Three days earlier in Prague, Mr Bush had invited Russia to "participate" in the US missile defence programme, as part of efforts to reassure Moscow that its ballistic missile arsenal was not the target of the technology.
But it is almost certain that outsourcing a crucial part of the US missile defence system to a former Soviet state was not what Mr Bush had in mind.
Washington must now establish whether the proposal signals serious Russian interest in taking part in the missile shield and narrowing differences with the US, or whether it is a spoiling tactic designed to stall the programme and divide Washington from its central European allies.
Mr Hadley sought to promote the former interpretation, arguing that the Putin plan indicated that Moscow had now accepted that it could benefit from a US missile shield.
"The goal, obviously, is a system that will protect Russia, the United States and Europe from these kinds of rogue state threats," he said, referring to hostile countries that could one day develop nuclear weapons.
Mr Putin's proposal involves a radar station in Gabala, Azerbaijan, that has remained jointly operated by Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
He views it as a potential substitute for the planned US radar in the Czech Republic that Moscow opposes. But Mr Hadley said the US remained committed to both the Czech site and a proposed base for missile interceptors in Poland.
Mr Putin and Mr Bush have a chance to narrow their differences when the Russian leader travels to the US for more talks with his counterpart at the Bush family summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, next month
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much to Bush's suprise he asked for cooperation and got it in spades. The facility is perfect for detecting missle launches of the type supposedly concerning Bush. Being in old USSR territory, Putin has some control over the situation, so any threat Russia may have been concerned with is somewhat abated.
Fly in the ointment? Bush will want complete control over the situation, but he'll have to share it. Bush's compromises tend to run in the flavor of "I am glad to let you do exactly what I tell you."
He'll have to wiggle out of this as his ego won't abide this. I wonder what excuses will be made.