Gore, left, and Kiriyenko

In this story:

• The 'Gorki' commission
• 'The fate of our children'
• A good start
• Related sites and stories

MOSCOW (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President Al Gore said Friday that Russia's new Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko has an "impressive" understanding of his country's troubled economy and the danger posed by the spread of nuclear-weapons technology.

In his first full-scale encounter with Kiriyenko, who was named prime minister fewer than four months ago, Gore said he found much to be an encouraged about.

"I'm actually optimistic, especially after the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, that they're going to turn the corner and start experiencing some real economic growth soon," he told Reuters Television in an interview.

The IMF, with strong U.S. backing, approved an $11.2 billion loan on Monday to help Russia through a financial crisis that has put pressure on the ruble and destroyed hopes of economic growth this year.

Kiriyenko told a joint news conference that Russia would press on with tough austerity measures.

"Reforms are being carried out, not because they have been promised to the IMF or to anybody else. Reforms in Russia are being carried out for ourselves ... because there is no other path," he said. "They are being done because they are our obligation before the Russian people and we are carrying them out."

"In a very short period of time, he has established a full command of the facts," Gore told a news conference. "I'm impressed with his programs."

The 'Gorki' commission

The main task of the No. 2 leaders for their countries was to set the agenda for a Moscow summit between presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin, planned for the end of August or early September. No details of the summit plans were released.

Gore also held a telephone conversation with Yeltsin, who is currently vacationing in northwest Russia, and passed on Clinton's warm regards.

"I am sorry I was not able to come and see you personally," Gore -- quoting Clinton -- told Yeltsin in televised extracts from the conversation.

Gore and Kiriyenko also signed two agreements designed to protect Russia's plutonium stockpile and find new jobs for scientists in defense industries, and they discussed Russia's deep economic crisis.

Gore has long co-chaired a joint commission on science and technology previously headed by Kiriyenko's predecessor, Viktor Chernomyrdin. The commission is aimed at ensuring the safety of Russian defense facilities, especially nuclear materials and technologies.

The Russian premier joked that the new Gore-Kiriyenko talks should be called the "Gorki" commission -- after the first letters of their names.

'The fate of our children'

Gore raised two topics of long-term concern to the United States in his meetings with Kiriyenko: the spread of Russian missile technology to Iran, and Russia's long-stalled ratification of the START II arms-reduction treaty.

Gore noted Iran's test of a missile this week that could strike Israel and Saudi Arabia. He urged Russians to "think about the fate of our children and grandchildren" and "chose responsible policies that will safeguard the future."

The Russian government has said it is making every effort to prevent Iran from acquiring such technology, but has had trouble controlling the actions of private companies.

Gore also said it is important for the Russian parliament to ratify START II, "so that the United States and Russia can begin negotiating further reductions during START III."

The U.S. Senate ratified START II in 1996, and the Clinton administration previously set Russian ratification as a precondition for a summit.

Under the plutonium agreement, a new plant will be built to reprocess plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons into fuel for civilian nuclear power plants.

"The biblical prophesy of turning swords to plowshares is illustrated with this type of program," Gore said.

A good start

They also signed an agreement under which the United States will help Russia's "defense cities" -- isolated research communities that are having trouble making their way in the new economy. The agreement would set up programs to convert such facilities to civilian use and find new jobs for their scientists.

Washington pledged $3.1 million to Moscow to help fund the conversion of its closed nuclear research cities to civilian roles.

Before Moscow, Gore paid a two-day visit to Ukraine where he toured the ruins of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, site of the world's worst nuclear accident.

Gore also spent several hours with the 35-year-old Kiriyenko in a less formal setting on Thursday, when he stayed longer than planned at a private dinner in Kiriyenko's country residence after flying in from Ukraine.

Asked on Friday what he had in common with Gore, Kiriyenko said they both had 15-year-old sons interested in computers, both liked scuba diving and both had met their wives at school.

"This has been a very good start to our working relationship," Gore said.

Kiriyenko returned the compliment, calling their discussions "very concentrated and fruitful."