[Ronn_Bman]

Here are some highlights from the ABC website...

"It might seem a little bit strange, but I had a feeling of guilt for this tragedy," said Putin, who, like millions of other people around the world, watched the disaster unfold live on television.
His guilt, he says, came from regret that the Russian and U.S. security services had not worked more closely together to combat terrorism before terrorists hijacked and crashed four airliners Sept. 11.

"I don't know whether it would have been possible to prevent these strikes on the United States by the terrorists," he told 20/20's Barbara Walters, "but it was a pity that our special services didn't get information on time and warn the American people and the American political leadership about the tragedy that came to pass."

Putin did not say that Russian intelligence officers had any specific information about the attacks, but said he wished they had been working more closely with their American counterparts.

Putin's government had warned the Clinton administration about bin Laden last June, saying the Saudi dissident's camps in Afghanistan were supplying Islamic militants to fight in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. But Russian officials said the Americans showed little interest in the warning. "We certainly were counting on a more active cooperation in combating international terrorism," Putin told Walters.

Hints at Compromise on Missile Defense

Russia and the United States have been at loggerheads for months over the Bush administration's plans for a national missile defense system, which Russia says violates the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty. But, continuing the conciliatory tone he has adopted since Sept. 11, Putin spoke warmly of President Bush and hinted that a compromise might be possible at their summit meeting in Crawford, Texas next week.

"We believe that the ABM Treaty of 1972 is important, essential, effective and useful," Putin said, "but we have a negotiating platform starting from which we could reach agreements."

Putin suggested that negotiators could find "common approaches" to interpreting the treaty's language in way that would accommodate the U.S. missile defense plan. "Experts believe that based on those approaches we would be quite able to formulate terms and conditions on the basis of the existing treaty without violating its substance."

Sees Broader Rapprochement With the West

Putin said he did not expect any reward for Russia's support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism, because it was in the best interests of both countries to fight their "common enemy." He also acknowledged that it was part of a broader "rapprochement" he had set in motion between Russia and the West since Sept. 11. "It is also in our best interests to integrate Russia in the contemporary international community in every sense of the word, in defense, political, security," he said.

Putin said the Russian military, who lost a 10-year war against Afghanistan's mujahideen fighters in the 1980s, was already helping the United States with intelligence. But, he said, there was no possibility Russia would commit ground troops to Afghanistan again. "To us, sending troops to Afghanistan is like for you, the U.S., returning your troops to Vietnam," he said.

Security of Nuclear and Biological Secrets

Putin rejected speculation that anthrax spores used in recent attacks in the United States could have originated in Russia's biological weapons program. He said that supplies of anthrax spores and other biological weapons — including Russia's stockpile of the smallpox virus — were "very securely" guarded.

He dismissed reports that Soviet-era nuclear technology, including portable bombs known as "nuclear suitcases," might be in the hands of terrorists. "These are just legends. One can probably assume that somebody tried to sell some nuclear secrets, but there is no documentary confirmation of those developments," he said.

He also denied that Russia had shared nuclear technology with Iran that could be used for military purposes.

On Wanting to Work for the KGB

Putin, who was a career KGB officer before entering politics, said he had been attracted to the intelligence profession from the time he was a schoolboy. "I was influenced by literature, movies. I didn't want to be a spy, I wanted to be useful to my country. And the profession of an intelligence officer does involve certain risks. There's an element of romanticism."

He said that the foreign media paid too much attention to his years in the KGB and too little to his political career, but added that he had no regrets about the choice he made to join the security service. "I don't regret that decision of mine many years ago. I have nothing to be ashamed of in my past. I was a successful intelligence officer, and always worked for the good of my country."