WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday he will visit Russia on April 6 at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

    "President Putin has invited me to go to Sochi and it's to discuss the strategic agreement, a crucial part of which is missile defense," Bush told reporters. Sochi is a Black Sea resort of Russia.

    Bush made the announcement when senior U.S. and Russian officials are to meet here Wednesday to continue their efforts to bridge gaps over American plans to deploy a missile defense system in eastern Europe.

    In January 2007, the United States proposed the installing parts of its anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move strongly opposed by Russia.

    Russia warned that the deployment of anti-missile shield, which threatens Russia's security, could trigger a new arms race. But the United States insisted that the shield is designed to intercept rockets fired against it from the Middle or Far East.

    The United States and Russia launched ministerial talks over, among other things, missile shield row when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Moscow on March 17-18.

    But the U.S. officials failed to overcome Russian opposition to U.S. missile defense plans in Europe.