Surprise offer defuses U.S.-Russia missile spat

Story Highlights

• Putin tells Bush he will drop objections to missile shield if it's in Azerbaijan
• Heavy police presence keeps G8 summit protesters at bay
• Bono: Bush-Putin a distraction but "people love a cockfight"

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HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (CNN) -- U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Thursday at the G8 summit in Germany to cooperate on missile-defense systems, apparently cooling tensions between the two leaders.

"We have an understanding about common threats, but we have differences. The difference is the ways and means in which we can overcome these threats," Putin told reporters after a one-on-one meeting with Bush.

While the United States wants to install missile-defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic -- a plan that has severely irritated the Russians -- Putin said he suggested using an existing radar station that Russia rents in neighboring Azerbaijan. (Watch Bush and Putin in cooperative mood at news conference)

That way, all of Europe would be protected, he said at a joint news conference.

"The existing agreement makes it possible for us to do this. And the president of Azerbaijan stressed he would be glad to contribute to world security and stability," Putin said.

He said he met with the Azerbaijan president on Wednesday. There would have to be new construction, and that could start right away, Putin added.

Azerbaijan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is north of Iran, and is bordered on the east by the Caspian Sea. (Map)

According to Putin, use of the radar station would make it unnecessary for Russia to install "offensive complexes" at European borders and unnecessary for the United States to put such complexes in outer space.

Bush said the missile-defense plan was meant to block possible attacks from Iran and other nations, but Putin said the systems would be on Russia's doorstep and could be converted into offensive weapons.

"It's much better to work together than to create tensions," Bush said after the meeting. "He expressed his concerns to me. He is concerned that the missile defense system is not an act that a friend would do."

Bush said the men agreed to share ideas, and involve officials from the U.S. State Department, Department of Defense and military.

"This is a serious issue and we want to make sure we understand each other's positions very clearly," Bush said.

He said he has invited Putin to the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, in July, where they will continue discussions on a variety of issues.

Last weekend, Putin warned that his country could aim nuclear weapons at European targets unless Washington abandoned the missile-system proposal.

"They're [Russians] not a military threat," Bush told reporters Thursday. "They're not what we should be hyperventilating about. What we ought to be doing is figuring out ways to work together."

Representatives from Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom are at the summit in Heiligendamm. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hosting the meeting because her country has the rotating presidency this year.

Bono: Bush-Putin distracts from AIDS, poverty

The feuding between Bush and Putin is one of the issues angering protesters, who were kept at bay for a second day by police.

Officials formed a solid line and used fire hoses to hold protesters back from the fence surrounding the Heiligendamm resort on the Baltic Sea, where representatives from the top eight industrial nations are meeting through Friday.

Protesters have been irritated by the conflict between Bush and Putin, saying it has overshadowed the summit and detracts from the priority issues of poverty in Africa and climate change.

Among those at in the summit are pop stars and philanthropists Bono and Bob Geldof, who complained that the bickering over the anti-missile systems is drowning out the larger issue of world poverty.

"People love a cockfight, you know. It's like, this is just a complete distraction," Bono told CNN's Ed Henry in an interview Wednesday.

Bush agreed that it was a distraction, saying Thursday that the summit should stick to the priorities of climate change and aid to Africa, including the fight against HIV/AIDs. He and Merkel drew up the agenda Wednesday.

Advocacy group says G8 nations far behind in African aid promises

"They are not keeping their promises" to help Africa, Bono said of the G8 nations. The leaders signed an agreement "and they're still slithering out of it," he said.

At the Gleneagles, Scotland, G8 summit in 2005 -- boosted by the Live 8 concerts and the efforts of Bono and Geldof, and urged on by British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- world leaders agreed to a huge program of debt reduction for the "forgotten continent" of Africa, and a massive boost in efforts to curb AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

At that time, G8 leaders promised an extra $25 billion for Africa by 2010, according to Jamie Drummond, executive director of DATA -- or Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa -- an advocacy organization working to eradicate poverty and AIDS in Africa. DATA also encourages African leaders to support democracy, accountability and transparency.

Bono, a board member, has persistently lobbied the governments of the world's leading industrial democracies, which comprise the G8, to keep their financial commitments.

At the end of 2006, just $2.3 billion of the $25 billion promised by G8 leaders by 2010 -- not including debt relief -- had been paid, Drummond told CNN's Robin Oakley.

"The G8 as a whole in 2006 did about half of the aid levels they promised -- just under half. They're planning for 2007 to do just under a third of what they promised. So there's a pattern of off-track behavior," Drummond said.

According to DATA, only Britain and Japan are meeting their promises.

Canada, the United States and Germany are slipping behind, and France and Italy are at the bottom.

Bush said Thursday the United States is trying to do its part.

"I asked Congress to double our initial commitment and approve an additional $30 billion for HIV-AIDS prevention, for care, and for treatment over the next five years."

CNN's Ed Henry contributed to this report.

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