Bush and Putin speak over Iran sanctions

US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin were reported to have held a telephone conversation on Saturday prior to the impending vote on a new text of a UN resolution that would impose sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. Context of their specific conversation was not given, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted that Russia's aim of revising sanctions was "not to punish Iran," but rather to reach a point where negotiations could begin.