Bush, Putin to keep 'united position' on Iran

WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday agreed to stick to "a united position" in the Iranian nuclear standoff, the White House said.

The two leaders, in a 17-minute telephone conversation, "agreed on the need maintain a united position in pressuring Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program," said Bush spokesman Tony Snow.

Bush and Putin also discussed "recent tensions" in Russia-Georgian relations," Snow told reporters.

The Kremlin said Putin had warned Bush of the danger of third countries encouraging "destructive policies"in Georgia.

In a telephone conversation on Monday, Putin "underlined the unacceptability and danger to the peace and stability of the region of any actions by third countries that could be interpreted by the Georgian leadership as encouraging their destructive policies," the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Kremlin has long seen Washington's hand in Georgia's efforts towards integration with the West and in particular its possible accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In Monday's phone conversation, which was initiated by Washington, the two also discussed Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization and Iran's nuclear programme, the statement said.

On Iran "the importance was stressed of the need to continue consultations, the main criteria of which should be the aim of fulfilling non-proliferation tasks," the statement said.