Presidents Bush and Putin Could Meet in Ljubljana

Washington/Ljubljana, 18 May - U.S. President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin could meet in Ljubljana in mid-June, unofficial reports from the White House indicate. Bush will be on a tour of Europe from 12 through 16 June, during which he will visit Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Poland. The White House Press Office could neither deny nor confirm the news of a Bush - Putin meeting in Ljubljana. The Office did say that the date and place of the meeting should be announced later in the day. The Slovene Foreign Ministry also failed to either confirm or deny the news, however, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel had announced, during his visit to the U.S. in March, that Slovenia would like to see Bush visit the country during his European tour.