Italian, Russian Leaders Make Joint Telephone Call to US President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, September 01, 2003

Italian, Russian Leaders Make Joint Telephone Call to US President

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Vladimir Putin made a joint telephone call Sunday to US President George W. Bush from Sardinia,Italian official sources said Sunday.

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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Russian President Vladimir Putin made a joint telephone call Sunday to US President George W. Bush from Sardinia,Italian official sources said Sunday.

The content of the talks was not immediately made public but observers believe Bush was probably briefed on Russia's new willingness to take part in a United Nations operation in Iraq as well as the other issues discussed in the last two days at Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia, including the Middle East, Afghanistan and the international terrorist threat.

In a change of stance, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his backing Saturday to a new resolution from the UN Security Council enabling the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq under the aegis of the United Nations, even under the US command.

Thanks to Berlusconi's diplomatic efforts, Putin announced he would no longer veto a role for the United Nations in Iraq even ifthe command of military operations stayed with the Americans.

The Russian president did not go into detail and did not specify whether this green light also meant that Russia might sendits own troops into Iraq.

Putin, who has been Berlusconi's guest at the luxury villa for the last two days, also welcomed the Italian prime minister onto aRussian cruiser where they watched a test flight of a new Russian fire-fighting jet called BE200, the latest jewel in the Russian air force.

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