VIETNAM: US president George Bush sought help from China and Russia yesterday on thwarting the twin nuclear challenges of North Korea and Iran as security dominated his agenda at an Asia Pacific summit.
In Hanoi, Mr Bush held separate talks with Chinese president Hu Jintao and Russian president Vladimir Putin, two key players in international efforts to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons and prevent Iran from developing one.
The US and Russia signed an agreement capping five years of work that blessed Russia's long-sought entry into the World Trade Organisation. Mr Bush was clearly looking for Mr Putin to return the favour by helping out on Iran.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Mr Bush believed he was making progress in persuading Mr Putin to back a strong UN resolution on Iran. The US is pushing for UN sanctions.
Russia, one of the UN's five permanent Security Council members, dislikes a European draft resolution and wants less restrictive measures with the aim of coaxing Tehran back to the talks table.
Mr Bush talked to Mr Hu about the twin nuclear challenges, with a focus on North Korea. Mr Hu made no mention of North Korea in his remarks, but Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in the talks Mr Hu had called for "wisdom and patience" in dealing with Pyongyang.
Mr Bush stressed the need for UN member states to comply with a resolution that bans trade of goods and transfer of funds to the North that could aid its nuclear arms programmes.
The Chinese side expressed some caution about the resolution. "We don't really think that sanctions are the purpose, rather it is the means," Mr Liu said.
White House official David McCormick said after the meeting that the leaders had agreed "on direction and next steps" on North Korea, but he declined to be more specific.