Vladimir putin

At the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Bush said he would consider a peace treaty with North Korea if it gave up nuclear arms.

Usually derided as teetering on the tip of irrelevance, this year's Asia-Pacific leaders' summit in Sydney hopes to rise above its reputation for glacial action and have a real impact on the course of climate change. Leaders gathered for the meeting hope to build on June's G8 summit, in which nations agreed to consider a 50 percent cut in emissions by 2050 and build momentum ahead of a U.N. climate change meeting later this month.

Russia has signed a deal to sell 98 Ilyushin civilian aircraft to Venezuela, Russian newspapers reported on Friday.

Relations between the United States and Europe are likely to improve dramatically under new French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a U.S. congressional leader said on Thursday.

Buyers may not return in force until relations with the West improve and the next Kremlin leader is known.

Warplane maker Irkut said it would list shares in London only after the formation of the United Aviation Company, a holding company planned by the Russian government

Russia's leading aluminum firm, RUSAL, will take over its main competitor SUAL and the aluminum industry assets of Glencore to create the world market leader, a source close to the deal told Reuters on Wednesday.

Russia's economic minister said on Thursday that the country would cut preferences given to U.S. meat imports if Washington fails to allow Russia to join the World Trade Organization.

A Moscow court has declared OAO Yukos, once Russia's largest oil producer, bankrupt as company lawyers appealed the decision handed out on Tuesday.