Rumsfeld, Ivanov stress cooperation

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, said Wednesday they had productive talks on nuclear disarmament, cooperation in the war on terrorism and other issues of mutual concern.

Both Rumsfeld and Ivanov said it was important for their countries to continue to move away from their Cold War postures and reduce their nuclear arsenals.

"We have a common interest in working together to reduce offensive nuclear weapons, weapons that really are a legacy of past hostilities and which are really no longer needed when Russia and the U.S. are basing our relationships on friendship, not on fear of mutual annihilation," Rumsfeld said.

The United States and Russia have committed to making large reductions in their nuclear weapons stockpile.

President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed that they would like to reach an agreement "that would go beyond their two presidencies," Ivanov said.

Rumsfeld said "some sort of document of that type is certainly a likelihood."

He also downplayed the importance of a secret Pentagon report, leaked to reporters over the weekend, calling for the United States to develop contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against Russia and six other nations -- Libya, Syria, China, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Rumsfeld said Russia was briefed about the Nuclear Posture Review in January and stressed that the United States is not targeting Russia or any other country on a day-to-day basis.

"Russia is, of course, recognized as having formidable nuclear capabilities, and Russia faces some strategic issues around its periphery. Our review prudently takes this into account," Rumsfeld said.

He said the report also notes that "there is no longer any ideological source of conflict with Russia."

Ivanov expressed support for U.S. plans to send military advisors to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to help train Georgian troops fighting rebels believed to have ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network.

"Many terrorists who have committed terrible crimes in the past and who operated in Chechnya are staying in Georgia now and of course they are full of new plans for terrorist operations," Ivanov said. "All that is taking place just 10 to 20 kilometers from the Russia state border, so we can't sit and watch those activities indifferently."

Ivanov said there is no question that some Chechen fighters were trained in Afghanistan and said some Chechen political leaders made trips to Kabul during the Taliban regime. He said Russia has shared information about Chechen ties to al Qaeda with U.S. security officials.

Ivanov met Tuesday with Bush and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. He said he plans to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday.