VLADIMIR PUTIN DOES NOT THINK GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION WILL BE MORE DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH THAN BILL CLINTON'S








MOSCOW, March 6. /RIA Novosti correspondent/. Vladimir Putin does not think that the George W. Bush administration will be more difficult to deal with than Bill Clinton's. 


	The Russian President, in an interview with Internet publications, expressed hope that "logic and common sense will lead to a positive search for final results".


	Replying to a question about US plans to set up an NMD, the head of state emphasised that Russia is not going to issue any ultimatums to anyone. On the contrary, Moscow seeks "to stay in the negotiating process". And the current US position gives rise to certain optimism, Putin said.


	Meanwhile, the President noted, if the US unilaterally pulls out of the 1972 ABM Treaty, "regardless of Russia, legal consequences will ensue". Putin explained that the ABM Treaty is a "kind of axis supporting a series of other agreements on international security. "In fact, it holds together the entire system of international security," the President said. But, he added, if this axis is eliminated, the system will fall apart. 


	The head of state emphasised that Russia is prepared to continue negotiations and would like to see them define "the extent and nature of threats" existing for the US and other countries. According to Putin, it is necessary together to decide how to neutralise these threats "without instilling uncertainty into each other".