May 25, 2002: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, presents President George W. Bush with a letter from Empress Catherine the Great to King George the Third in which she turns down his request to send Russian cossacks to aid the British forces in America during the American Revolution. This historical diplomatic document relates to the earliest exchanges between the U.S. and Russia. [AP/Wide World Photo]
![May 25, 2002: Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, presents President George W. Bush with a letter from Empress Catherine the Great to King George the Third in which she turns down his request to send Russian cossacks to aid the British forces in America during the American Revolution. This historical diplomatic document relates to the earliest exchanges between the U.S. and Russia. [AP/Wide World Photo]](http://www.state.gov/cms_images/1bush_putin1_600.jpg)
