Mission To Europe

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The Bush-Putin meeting is not expected to produce any grand agreements. Bush will come armed with loosely worded proposals for cooperation on missile defense and Russian membership in the World Trade Organization. But there will be little detail, and with the two-hour meeting eaten up by niceties and translation time, no deal is likely. But a deal isn't the point. What Bush is doing is setting a new tone for Europe. Five months into his term, it's time to make a better impression.