No Plan, No Expectations, No Decisions

President George W. Bush had high hopes of his weekend visitor Russian president Vladimir Putin, whom he has invited to spend September 26 and 27 at his Camp David retreat. Bush had looked to his guest for help in finding some partial answers to the difficulties facing the United States in Iraq and a contribution that might provide uplift to his own falling approval ratings at home.

But DEBKA-Net-Weekly's sources in Moscow report that Putin will disappoint his host.

Just before setting out for the UN General Assembly session and his Camp David summit, the Russian president came to a decision to indefinitely postpone any bilateral diplomatic, military or economic understandings with the US president.

Even such strategically crucial accords as the partnership to develop an oil terminal and pipeline from Murmansk to the U.S. East Coast (as reported in DEBKA-Net-Weekly's No. 125 issue on September 12, 2003) have been put on ice in the Kremlin.

The Russian president confided to his advisers that he did not mind being flexible and lending Bush a helping hand, but no commitments for the moment. His decision to stay away from the UN General Assembly session opening addressed by Bush signaled a new wind blowing from Moscow and caught the White House by surprise.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly will outline the outcome of the Bush-Putin summit in its coming issue next week as well as providing some insights into the most recent Kremlin decision-making processes.