SOCHI. Sept 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian and U.S. Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush spoke on the phone at America's initiative, Russian presidential press secretary Alexei Gromov said.
The core subject of the conversation was the situation surrounding Iraq in light of Baghdad's consent to accept international inspectors, Gromov said.
"Putin emphasized that the current situation calls for concentrating on deploying a UN inspection and monitoring mission in Iraq as soon as possible," Gromov said.
The two presidents also agreed to interact closely on the Iraq issue in the UN and in a bilateral format.
Putin and Bush also discussed ties in strategic stability. They agreed to meet during the APEC summit in Mexico in late October, Gromov said.