Bush, Putin fail to ink deal on missile defense
( 2001-11-16 09:02 ) (8 )

US President George W.Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded three days of meetings Thursday with warm praise for each other, but they failed to reach a deal to allow the United States to build a missile defense system.

Speaking at a joint press conference in the gymnasium of Crawford's high school, Bush and Putin said that they had talked about the war on terrorism, working together to end the spread of nuclear weapons, and on economic issues.

"Russia has been a strong partner in the fight against terrorism," Bush said, noting that the first phone call he had received from a foreign leader after the September 11 attacks on the United States was from Putin.

Bush said that he will visit Russia at the invitation of Putin, but the date has not been fixed yet.