KIEV ( 2008-04-01 15:52:28 ) :
US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he was hopeful of an agreement with Russia on US missile defence plans in Europe but admitted the United States still had work to do to persuade Russia.
"We're dealing with a lot of history and a lot of suspicion I'm hopeful we'll have some breakthroughs we'll see," Bush said at a press conference with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko during a visit to Kiev.
Bush was in Kiev at the start of a week-long European tour that will end with a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi with President Vladimir Putin.
"Obviously we've got work to do to persuade the president and the people around him that the missile defence system is not aimed at Russia," he said, insisting that the missile system was not "an anti-Russian device."
The United States has outlined plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic to counter potential threats from "rogue" states such as Iran or North Korea.
Russia has objected to the plans, saying there is no immediate threat and that the system is aimed at Russia. Talks on missile defence between the United States and Russia are ongoing but have so far not yielded any agreement.
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