Bush, Medvedev confer at G8 summit

TOYAKO, Japan, July 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agree Iran and North Korea must give up their nuclear aspirations, they said Monday.

However, the two world leaders, who met for the first time since Medvedev became president at the Group of Eight's summit in Japan, have yet to come to terms on U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

Medvedev, whom Bush described as a "smart guy," said they spent their meeting discussing ways to further the relationship between the two countries, noting "there are certain questions on our agenda where we agree and these are the matters pertaining to Iran, North Korea."

"But then certainly there are others with respect to European affairs and missile defense where we have differences," said the Russian president.

Bush acknowledged there are ''some areas of disagreement," but added they had "a good, meaningful discussion."

"There are also areas where I know we can work together for the common good," Bush said. "I reminded him that, yes, I'm leaving, but not until six months and I'm sprinting to the finish. So we can get a lot done together and, you know, a lot of important issues"