US President-elect George W. Bush reaffirmed his commitment to withdrawing US troops from the Balkans and to a national defensive shield against nuclear weapons in an interview published today.

Bush, who takes over as president on January 20, said he was keeping US allies informed of his plan to pull troops out of the region and would not act "precipitously".

"I think they (US allies) are very aware of it," he said in a New York Times interview. "I'm in consultation with our allies."

He said he opposed setting deadlines and would honour US commitments already made to having a US troop presence in the Balkans.

"I don't think it is fair to have deadlines," he said. "Listen, I'll honour the agreements that the president (Bill Clinton) has - that our country has made," he said.

"And we have got an agreement to be in the Balkans. And it's going to take a while. I understand that."

Bush recognised that Moscow had raised "great objections" to US plans for a system of nuclear missile defence, but indicated that he would go ahead anyway, while pushing for nuclear weapons reductions.

"One thing I did talk about in the campaign that hasn't gotten much focus is our willingness to reduce our own nuclear capacity, to reduce the offensive nature of our inventory and enhance the defensive posture of America," he said.

"I have said that one of our top priorities with Russia is to work with them on the spread of technologies as well as nuclear safety."

Bush also indicated that his administration would carefully monitor Moscow's efforts to stamp out corruption, noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "pledged to root out corruption".

AFP