Bush downplays tension with Russia at G8

Story Highlights

• U.S. President Bush pledges to work towards resolving tensions with Russia
• Dispute over missile defense system threatens to overshadow G8 summit
• Main agenda set to focus on climate change, aid for African countries
• Some protesters reach perimeter of summit site in northern Germany

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ROSTOCK, Germany (CNN) -- Tension between the United States and Russia over a missile-defense system in Europe is likely to take center stage at the Group of Eight summit of industrialized nations in Germany, which started Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Heiligendamm resort on the Baltic Sea for the three-day meeting. Social events dominated the schedule the first day, including a reception and dinner.

U.S. plans to deploy missile-defense technology in Poland and the Czech Republic brought a sharp response from Russian officials including President Putin. (Watch former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev describe the plans as divisive )

Putin warned he may aim nuclear weapons at European targets unless Washington abandons its proposal.

"This is an extremely sensitive issue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said to CNN's Robin Oakley in London Wednesday.

"Strategic security and security balance in the European continent is so sensitive that you have to use very strong language in order to convey your disappointment."

He added, "I just want to repeat that it doesn't show that we are very close to a cold war. I don't think that there is the slightest possibility, or the slightest danger, that we will enter another period of cold war."

Bush tones down tension

Bush, in an off-camera encounter with reporters earlier Wednesday, also tried to tone down the U.S.-Russian rhetoric.

Asked whether the United States would consider taking military action against Russia if it felt threatened, he said, "There needs to be no military response, because we're not at war with Russia. Russia is not a threat." (Full story)

Asked whether he expected a tense encounter with Putin, Bush told reporters: "Could be. I don't think so ... I'll work to see that it's not a tense meeting."

The diplomatic row coupled with harsh criticism over faltering democratic reforms in Russia has soured relations between Washington and Moscow, raising fears the standoff could derail the three-day summit's main agenda which is supposed to focus on climate change and African aid.

Muscle flexing from an economically confident Russia -- the European Union depends on Russia for 40 percent of its energy needs -- could also make reaching an agreement difficult.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, attending his final G8 summit before stepping down at the end of the month, said a close and sustainable relationship between Europe and Russia needs to be based on shared values and vowed to hold frank talks with Putin, The Associated Press reported.

"I don't really think that in the end it will be in the long-term interest of Russia to have a relationship with Europe or with the Western world that is scratchy and difficult," said Blair.

He also said he planned to press Putin on Russia's refusal to extradite a former KGB agent, Andrea Lugovoi, suspected of murdering another former Russian agent, Alexander Litvinenko, in Britain last year.

CNN's Oakley said Russia's economic progress in recent years had made it a much more powerful player that would push its point of view: "Russia is no longer an economic basket case like it was a few years back ... so Russia is becoming more assertive about its political agenda."

Protesters push past police

Protesters blocked a road leading to the Heiligendamm resort. Some charged past police lines and ran through fields to reach the perimeter fence of the summit site. Police used water cannon to control the crowd, and prevented them from climbing the barrier. (Watch as G8 protesters break through police lines )

The G8 leaders weren't affected by the demonstrations, but some delegations and staff members were delayed or had to find alternate routes.

Organizers put the number of protesters at more than 10,000.

Police said more than 16,000 officers were on duty.

"I think the G8 are just lying to us," said demonstrator Dieter Thomas. "They don't represent the people, and they just want to decide over our heads."

Many of the protesters oppose global inequality, claiming not enough is being done about the poverty in Africa and about climate control, said CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

The meeting is hosted by Germany, who holds the rotating G8 presidency this year. Social events are planned Wednesday night for the officials representing France, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Bush Wednesday to hammer out an agenda.

"We just had a very good debate," she told reporters while standing beside the U.S. president. "I do hope and trust a strong message comes from the summit meeting."

She acknowledged, "There are a few areas here and there we will continue to work on."

Climate change and poverty in Africa will be the priorities for discussions, Merkel said.

"We would like to send a signal as to how we wish to shape globalization -- in the sense that we would like to give it a human face," Merkel said. "We want to combat poverty, assure freedom of investments; we want to see to it that globalization respects the social dimension, and we want to work on world trade issues."

The German leader added, "I do hope and trust a strong message comes from the summit meeting."

Bush agreed that poverty and disease in Africa are major concerns, but he stressed his interest in energy issues. (Watch how climate change is expected to top the G8 agenda )

"I also come with a strong desire to work with you on a post-Kyoto agreement, about how we can achieve major objectives.

"One, of course, is the reduction of greenhouse gases, another is to become more energy-independent, in our case from crude oil from parts of the world where we've got some friends and sometimes we don't have friends.

"We have a good chance to share our technologies with the developing world, to make sure we're good stewards of the environment."

Bush has refused to sign the international Kyoto Protocol, which mandates limits on greenhouse gas emissions. He argues it would harm the U.S. economy. More than 150 countries have signed the agreement.

CNN's Robin Oakley, Frederik Pleitgen and Suzanne Malveaux contributed to this report.