Bush arrives in Moscow for landmark talks

Bush is greeted by an honor guard at a welcoming ceremony Thursday in Moscow.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Moscow Thursday for talks during which he and Russian President Vladimir Putin are to sign an arms agreement that is to reduce by two-thirds the nuclear weaponry of both countries during the next decade.

Addressing the German Bundestag in Berlin earlier in the day, Bush said the landmark treaty would rid "ourselves of the last vestiges of Cold War confrontation."

"Many generations have looked at Russia with alarm. Our generation can finally lift this shadow from Europe by embracing the friendship of a new democratic Russia," Bush said.

"President Putin and I are about to sign the most dramatic nuclear arms reduction in history."

Bush also said the Russian people need "to find their future" in Europe and with America.

"Russia has its best chance since 1917 to become a part of Europe's family," Bush said. "Russia's transformation is not finished; the outcome is not yet determined.

"But for all the problems and challenges, Russia is moving toward freedom, more freedom in its politics and its markets, freedom that will help Russia to act as a great and just power."

Closing the door on the Cold War

The Friday ceremony will mark the fifth time Bush and Putin have met, but the first time in Moscow.

The nuclear arms pact will cut each nation's existing store of roughly 5,000 to 6,000 warheads by about 65 percent over the next decade. The resulting number of warheads held by each country would range from 1,700 to 2,200.

CNN NewsPass Video    •  Russia joins NATO   •  Bush links D-Day to war on terror   •  Bush and Putin sign nuclear pact  MORE STORIES   •  Bush raising sex scandal with pope   •  Bush links D-Day to war on terror  FROM TIME.com   •  America's new best friend?   •  A risk of loose nukes  RESOURCES   •  Map: Bush in Europe   •  Gallery: President Bush's tour   •  Chart: Nuclear arms under negotiation  Bush's itinerary:  •  Friday: Participates in wreath-laying ceremony at Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Moscow; signs treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin that reduces nuclear weapons deployed by both sides; tours Kremlin and Cathedral Square in Moscow  •  Saturday: Travels to St. Petersburg; participates in wreath laying at Piskarevskoye Cemetery; tours the Hermitage  •  Sunday: Tours Russian Museum in St. Petersburg; travels to France; meets with French President Jacques Chirac  •  Monday: Attends Memorial Day service in Caen, France; tours Normandy American Cemetery and participates in wreath-laying ceremony; travels to Italy  •  Tuesday: Attends NATO-Russia Summit in Rome; meets with Pope John Paul II; returns to United States

Senior Bush administration officials said the treaty would enable the United States and Russia to enter into a new strategic relationship and move away from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The administration considers that agreement a relic of the Cold War, one that did not allow for modern contingencies.

According to senior Bush administration officials, the United States initially wanted the nuclear reduction pact to be an executive agreement, rather than a treaty. Russia fought to have the deal codified as a treaty and the United States eventually agreed.

The treaty will have to go before the U.S. Senate and Russian Duma to be ratified.

Security was tight throughout Moscow in anticipation of Bush's visit. At the U.S. Embassy in the Russian capital, Communists staged a demonstration, criticizing Bush and Putin. They accused Putin of being too soft with the United States.

In addition to the nuclear weapons reduction treaty, Bush plans to discuss the subject of Iran, one of three countries the president has dubbed an "axis of evil."

Russia is helping Iran build nuclear power plants, and the United States is concerned the facilities might be diverted to other uses and that some of the items that Iran wants could later be aimed at U.S. forces.

In Germany, Bush referred to Iran as a country "run by a group of extremists who fund terrorist activity."

"Russia needs to be concerned about proliferation into a country that might view them as an enemy at some point in time," he said.

"If Iran gets a weapon of mass destruction deliverable by a missile, that's going to be problem. It's going to be a problem for all of us, including Russia."

A senior administration official briefing reporters en route to Moscow called the concern of Russian nuclear technology going to Iran the "single most important proliferation threat there is."

The official said Bush would bring the issue up "front and center" during meetings with Putin, describing the situation as "extremely worrying" and charging that Iran, a closed, non-transparent society is not a state "you want to do business with."