Bush says he'll visit Russia after April NATO summit

By David Alexander

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush announced on Wednesday he would visit Russia early next month for talks with President Vladimir Putin on strategic issues, including U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.

"I'm going to go to Russia," Bush told reporters at the White House, saying he had been invited to Sochi, where Putin has a holiday home. "President Putin has invited me to go to Sochi to discuss the strategic agreement, a crucial part of which is missile defense."

"We're optimistic we can reach an accord on some very important matters," he said.

Bush said the visit would take place after the April 2-4 NATO summit in Romania, which Putin is scheduled to attend for a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council. Bush is currently scheduled to visit Croatia immediately after the summit, so the Russian trip could follow that, but the president's advisers said details were still being worked out.

Russia welcomed Bush's decision to make the trip, probably his last opportunity to meet Putin in his home country before the Russian leader hands over power on May 7 to President-elect Dmitry Medvedev. Putin is expected to become prime minister in the new government.

"We are satisfied that the U.S. president has accepted an invitation issued earlier by President Putin to visit Sochi and discuss a wide range of issues at a working summit," Putin's top foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko told Reuters.

Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser, said the meeting would follow up on a recent visit by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who talked to the Russians about a possible strategic agreement.

Hadley said the decision to meet was "an indication by the two leaders that there may be an opportunity here to provide a strategic framework for the relationship, identify areas of cooperation, resolve some outstanding issues so that the relationship is in good shape to be handed over to their respective successors."