new beginnings

AFP: President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, held an impromptu summit in Lisbon in an effort to build confidence between the two nations, a White House official announced.

“They were able to go aside into a room by themselves and talk for 15 to 20 minutes,” White House spokesman Ben Rhodes told reporters aboard Air Force One before it landed in Washington late Saturday. “It was informal, it wasn?t planned.”

Only a translator accompanied the two leaders at their meeting on the sidelines of a NATO summit, US officials said.

NATO and Russia agreed earlier Saturday to jointly examine a missile shield to defend Europe and boost the flow of supplies to the Afghan war, burying a period of tensions between the former Cold War foes.

The day before, the Western military alliance had agreed to set up an anti-ballistic missile defence system to protect Europe’s populations against rogue rocket attacks and invite Russia to cooperate.

The two sides agreed to study how this cooperation would work, but Medvedev warned Russia would have to be treated as an equal partner if it is to participate.

Rhodes said Obama and Medvedev had developed what he called “a very strong rapport.” “They like each other. They like to see each other,” the spokesman said. “They like to get along and consult about things.” According to administration officials, the meeting was initiated by Obama, who later described it as “very cordial.”