[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[November 15, 2001]
[Pages 1409-1418]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks With President Vladimir Putin of 
Russia and a Question-and-Answer Session With Crawford High School 
Students in Crawford
November 15, 2001

    President Bush. Thank you all. Sit down, please. Thank you all for 
that warm welcome. This is a great day for central Texas. It's a great 
day because Laura and I have had the honor of welcoming the Putins to 
our beloved State. It's a great day because it's raining. [Laughter]
    It's a great day, as well, because I just got off the telephone with 
two central Texas women: Heather Mercer, who 
used to live in Crawford, and Dayna Curry. They

[[Page 1410]]

both said to say thanks to everybody for their prayers. They realize 
there is a good and gracious God. Their spirits were high, and they love 
America.
    I remember clearly when I stood up in front of the Congress and 
said, we have three conditions to the Taliban: One, release those who 
are being detained; two, destroy terrorist training camps so that 
country can never be used for terror again, either against us or against 
Russia, for example; three, bring Al Qaida to justice.
    Yesterday I was able to report to the Nation that one of those 
conditions had been met, with the release and rescue of the humanitarian 
aid workers. And make no mistake about it, the other two will be met--
particularly bringing Al Qaida to justice.
    I wanted to bring President Putin to Crawford. I wanted him to see a 
State that Laura and I love. I particularly wanted to be able to 
introduce him to the citizens of Crawford, because this part of the 
State represents the independent-minded nature of Texans. It represents 
the hard-working Texans, people who have great values--faith and family. 
The people here, Mr. President, love their country, and they like 
countries that work with America to keep the peace.
    We had a great dinner last night; we had a little Texas barbecue, 
pecan pie--[laughter]--a little Texas music. And I think the President 
really enjoyed himself. I told him he was welcome to come back next 
August--[laughter]--to get a true taste of Crawford. [Laughter] He said, 
``Fine, and maybe you'd like to go to Siberia in the winter.'' 
[Laughter]
    It's my honor also to introduce President Putin to Crawford. I bet a 
lot of folks here, particularly the older folks, never dreamt that an 
American President would be bringing the Russian President to Crawford, 
Texas. [Laughter] A lot of people never really dreamt that an American 
President and a Russian President could have established the friendship 
that we have.
    We were enemies for a long period of time. When I was in high 
school, Russia was an enemy. Now, the high school students can know 
Russia as a friend; that we're working together to break the old ties, 
to establish a new spirit of cooperation and trust so that we can work 
together to make the world more peaceful.
    Russia has been a strong partner in the fight against terrorism. 
It's an interesting story for me to report. I was on Air Force One the 
day of the attack, working my way back to Washington via Louisiana and 
Nebraska--[laughter]--making sure that the President was safe and 
secure. The first phone call I got from a foreign leader was President 
Putin. He told us that he recognized that I had put our troops on alert. 
I did so because, for the first time in a long period of time, America 
was under attack. It only happened once--twice, I guess--the War of 1812 
and Pearl Harbor.
    In the old days when America put their troops on attack, Russia 
would have responded and put her troops on alert, which would have 
caused the American President maybe to put a higher alert, and Russia a 
higher alert, and all of a sudden we would have had two conflicts 
instead of one. But not this President. This President recognized we're 
entering into a new era, and his call was, ``Don't worry; we know what 
you're up against. We stand with you, and we will not put our troops on 
alert, for the good of the United States of America.''
    I brought him to my ranch because, as the good people in this part 
of the world know, that you only usually invite your friends into your 
house. Oh, occasionally, you let a salesman in, or two, but--[laughter]. 
But I wanted the Putins to see how we live. And even though we changed 
addresses, our hearts are right here in our home State.
    We've got a lot to do together. We've had great discussions in 
Washington, as well as here in Texas. We're both pledging to reduce the 
amount of nuclear weapons,

[[Page 1411]]

offensive weapons, we have in order to make the world more secure. We're 
talking about ways to cooperate in antiterrorism and antiproliferation. 
We're talking about ways to make sure our economies can grow together. 
What we're talking about is a new relationship--a relationship that will 
make your lives better when you get older, and it will make your kids' 
lives better as they grow up.
    But in order to have a new relationship, it requires a new style of 
leader. And it's my honor to welcome to central Texas a new style of 
leader, a reformer, a man who loves his country as much as I love mine, 
a man who loves his wife as much as I love mine, a man who loves his 
daughters as much as I love my daughters, and a man who is going to make 
a huge difference in making the world more peaceful, by working closely 
with the United States. Please welcome Vladimir Putin. [Applause]
    President Putin. Dear friends, when we were riding here in the 
Presidential car, I'll divulge to you a small secret of ours. The First 
Lady of the United States told me, ``You know, some kind of special 
people live here. These are people with a special kind of pride of their 
position and of their heritage.'' And the more I come to know the 
President of the United States, the more I realize that the First Lady 
was right: He is right from the heart of Texas, and he is a Texan. And 
herself, being a wise woman, she complimented her husband in an indirect 
and very sensible way. [Laughter]
    My wife and myself are also trying to help ourselves as we go along 
this life. And it gives me pleasure to introduce my First Lady, my wife, 
Lyudmila Putin. [Applause]
    And like President Bush did, I would also like to congratulate three 
Texans and two people from Waco, with the liberation by the U.S. special 
forces and their withdrawal from the land of Afghanistan.
    Of course, it is very important to be born under a happy star and to 
have destiny facing your way. And indeed, I'm in agreement with the 
President: Perhaps God was looking quite positively on this.
    But there are different approaches to addressing such kind of 
problem. There are people deeply religious who usually say that God 
knows what is to befall a nation, a people, or a person. But there are 
people no less devoted to God, but who still believe that the people, a 
person should also take care of their own destiny and lives. And it 
gives me great pleasure to deal and to work with President Bush, who is 
a person, a man who does what he says.
    And I congratulate those who have been liberated by the Armed 
Forces, and their relatives. And also, I would like to congratulate on 
this, President Bush.
    On our way here, we didn't expect at all that things would be so 
warm and homey as they were at the ranch of President Bush here. 
Yesterday we had a surprise, but today's meeting is yet another and very 
pleasant surprise, indeed, for us. Indeed, in any country, the backbone 
of any country is not only the people who live in the capitals but also 
and mostly the people who live hundreds and thousands of miles from the 
capital.
    It is especially pleasant and pleasing for me to be here in your 
high school. And my being here brings me to remembering those 
distinguished Russian Americans who contributed so much to the 
development and prosperity of this Nation, including a world-known 
composer and musician, Rachmaninoff; a well-known designer and inventor 
of aircraft, helicopters and airplanes, Sikorsky; and a world-renowned 
economist and Nobel Prize winner, Leontiev; and many others. And it is 
extremely pleasant for me to know that here in this room we have some 
people, boys and girls from Russia, who have come here to study.
    Of course, serious people work in the capital cities, and much 
depends on them. But in any circumstances and in any situation, what 
they must do is to fulfill the will of their people. And being here, I 
can

[[Page 1412]]

feel the will of these people, the will to cooperate with the Russian 
Federation, the will to cooperate with Russia. And I can assure you that 
the Russian people fully share this commitment and is also committed to 
fully cooperating with the American people.
    Together, we can achieve quite a lot, especially if we are helped in 
this by such a young and active and beautiful generation as the one we 
are meeting with now.
    Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Okay. The President and I have agreed to take a few 
questions from the students. I figured this would be a pretty good 
opportunity for you all to ask----
    President Putin. Only questions. No math questions, please. 
[Laughter]
    President Bush. Good idea. Particularly no fuzzy math questions. 
[Laughter]
    Anybody got any questions? Yes, ma'am. Hold on. We've got a mike 
coming so everybody gets to hear it, too. What is your name, and what 
grade are you in?
    Student. I'm Amanda Lemmons. I'm a senior.
    President Bush. Senior? Good.

Future Visit to Russia

    Student. Have you decided on whether you're going to go to Russia or 
not?
    President Bush. Well--[laughter]--the President invited me, and I 
accepted. We haven't figured out a time yet. But, in that I'm from Texas 
and kind of like the warm weather, I was hoping to wait a couple of 
months. [Laughter] I'm really looking forward to going to Russia. I 
would hope that I could not only go to Moscow but maybe go to the 
President's hometown of St. Petersburg, which they tell me is one of the 
most spectacular cities in Europe. But I look forward to going. I think 
it is going to be a very important trip.
    We have met four times now. We have made a lot of progress on coming 
together on some key issues. There is more work to be done. I believe 
the U.S.-Russian relationship is one of the most important relationships 
that our country can have. And the stronger the relationship is, the 
more likely it is the world will be at peace, and the more likely it is 
that we'll be able to achieve a common objective, which is to defeat the 
evil ones that try to terrorize governments such as the United States 
and Russia. And we must defeat the evil ones in order for you all to 
grow up in a peaceful and prosperous world.
    Okay. Wait for the mike. I'm kind of getting hard of hearing.

Visit of President Putin

    Student. My name is Jana Heller, and I'm in the eighth grade. And I 
was wondering, what is President Putin's favorite thing about Texas?
    President Bush. What does he think about Texas?
    Student. Yes, sir.
    President Bush. Oh, favorite thing. Favorite thing. Crawford, of 
course. [Laughter]
    President Putin. We in Russia have known for a long time that Texas 
is the most important State in the United States. [Laughter] But 
seriously speaking, we in Russia somehow tend to know about Texas rather 
better than about the rest of the United States, somehow--except maybe 
for Alaska, which we sold to you. [Laughter]
    In my view, first of all, because, like in Russia, here in Texas the 
oil business is quite well developed, and we have numerous contacts in 
this area. And we have very many contacts in such areas as high-tech and 
the exploration of space. And the fact that the parliament of the State 
of Texas declared April the 12th--the day when Yuri Gagarin, the first 
man to fly to space, accomplished this--as a State holiday, like it is a 
national holiday in Russia, is yet another testimony of the closeness of 
our outlook and achievements.
    President Bush. Name and grade?
    Student. I'm Brian Birch. I'm a senior here. In what ways has this 
summit helped bring Russia and the U.S. closer together?

[[Page 1413]]

    President Bush. Well, first of all--his question is, in what ways 
has the summit brought us together? Well, in order for countries to come 
together, the first thing that must happen is, leaders must make up 
their mind that they want this to happen. And the more I get to know 
President Putin, the more I get to see his heart and soul, and the more 
I know we can work together in a positive way. And so anytime leaders 
can come together and sit down and talk about key issues in a very open 
and honest way, it will make relations stronger in the long run.
    There's no doubt the United States and Russia won't agree on every 
issue. But you probably don't agree with your mother on every issue. 
[Laughter] You still love her, though, don't you? Well, even though we 
don't agree on every issue, I still respect him and like him as a 
person. The other thing is, is that the more we talk about key issues, 
the more likely it is we come to an understanding. And so the summit 
enabled us to continue a very personal dialog. As well, we agreed to 
some significant changes in our relationship.
    I, after long consultations with people inside our Government, I 
announced that our Government was going to reduce our nuclear arsenal to 
between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads over the next decade. That's a tangible 
accomplishment. I shared that information with President Putin. He, too, 
is going to make a declaration at some point in time.
    In other words, this particular summit has made us closer because 
we've agreed on some concrete steps, as well, specific things we can do 
together. We're working on counterproliferation, which is an incredibly 
important issue, to make sure that arms and potential weapons of mass 
destruction do not end up in the hands of people who will be totally 
irresponsible, people that hate either one of our nations.
    And so we made great progress. And I look forward to future meetings 
with the President because there's more to do to make sure the 
relationship outlives our term in office. It's one thing for he and me 
to have a personal relationship. The key is that we establish a 
relationship between our countries strong enough that will endure beyond 
our Presidencies. And that's important so that in the long run, as you 
come up and as your kids grow up, that Russia and the United States will 
cooperate in ways that will make the world more stable and more 
peaceful, and ways in which we can address the common threats. And 
terrorism and evil are common threats to both our governments, and will 
be tomorrow, as well as today, unless we do something about it now. And 
that's exactly what we're doing.
    Yes, ma'am. Ask the President a question--the other one.

Women's Rights

    Student. We, as women in America, are very appreciative of all the 
rights we have. So, with the fall of the Taliban Government, how do you 
think that women's rights will affect Afghanistan?
    President Bush. How do I think what?
    Q. How do you think the fall of the Taliban Government will affect 
women's rights?
    President Bush. Yes, I appreciate that. I'm going to answer it 
quickly, and then I want Vladimir to discuss that. He knows about 
women's rights and the importance of them because he's raising two 
teenage daughters. [Laughter] He and I share something in common.
    I'll tell you an interesting story, and then I'm going to let him 
speak about it. First of all, there's no question the Taliban is the 
most repressive, backward group of people we have seen on the face of 
the Earth in a long period of time, including and particularly how they 
treat women. But President Putin, I think it would be interesting for 
him to discuss the concept of women's rights inside of Russia and his 
vision of how Afghanistan treats women. But I'll tell you an interesting 
story.

[[Page 1414]]

    So, we are getting ready to have the first press conference we had 
together in Slovenia. And by the way, there was, I think, a thousand 
reporters there--it seemed like a thousand. [Laughter] And we were 
walking in. I said, ``Say, I understand you've got two daughters.'' He 
said, ``Yes.'' He said, ``They're teenagers.'' I said, ``I've been 
through that myself.'' [Laughter] I said, ``Who did you name them for?'' 
He said, ``Well, we named them for our mothers, my mother and my mother-
in-law.'' I said, ``That's interesting. That's exactly what Laura and I 
did, too. We named our girls for our--my mother and Laura's mom.'' And I 
said, ``Gosh, the thing I want most in life is for those girls to be 
able to grow up in a free world and prosper and realize their dreams.'' 
He said, ``That's exactly what I hope as well.''
    There's a lot in common, even though--between our countries, even 
though it's a long way away. And it all starts with the human element, 
the thing that matters most in life, and that is our faiths and our 
families and our respective loves as dads for our daughters.
    But anyway, I think it would be appropriate for President Putin to 
talk about women in Russia and his keen desire, like mine, to free the 
women of Afghanistan as well.
    President Putin. I do agree with the President that, indeed, such a 
problem does exist in the world. And in Afghanistan this phenomenon has 
taken an extreme form, and the disrespect of human rights has acquired 
extreme dimensions. Overall, women in Afghanistan are basically not 
treated as people.
    And the testimony of the people's attitude towards this problem, 
this issue in Afghanistan is, in the liberated areas, people burn their 
veils, or as they're called, chadors. This is the testimony of the 
attitude of the people to this in Afghanistan.
    In many countries of the world, especially in the poor countries, 
this problem exists and has acquired quite dramatic dimensions. To 
overcome this, one needs to develop specific gender-oriented programs 
that would include, primarily and first of all, questions related to 
proper education for women. And I would like to reiterate, there are 
many programs and many people devoted to implementing such specific, 
special activities for the benefit of women.
    And we should not allow any atrocities or violations of human rights 
to happen. But what we should avoid in the course of the implementation 
of such programs, and as an end result of their implementation, is that 
a lady would turn into a man. [Laughter]

Future of Afghanistan

    Student. [Inaudible]--I'm a senior. At the end of the war, do you 
foresee the United States and Russia being involved in the new 
implementation of a government in Afghanistan?
    President Bush. I do. I think--and it started yesterday, in my house 
in Crawford, where the President and I had a very long discussion about 
how to make sure that the post-Taliban Afghanistan accomplish some 
certain objectives: one, that it be a peaceful neighbor to everybody in 
the region; secondly, that it never harbor and serve as a training 
ground for terrorism again; and third, that it be a country that doesn't 
export drugs. I don't know if you know this or not, but the Taliban 
Government and Al Qaida--the evil ones--use heroin trafficking in order 
to fund their murder. And one of our objectives is to make sure that 
Afghanistan is never used for that purpose again.
    And so we had a long discussion about a post-Taliban Afghanistan. 
The President understands, like I do, that any government, in order for 
it to achieve its objectives, must represent all the interests in 
Afghanistan--not only the Northern Alliance, which has been very 
effective fighters on the ground, but also the Pashtun tribes, which are 
generally in the southern part

[[Page 1415]]

of the country. And we are working to figure out a strategy to make sure 
that that happens.
    There's three phases to this battle in Afghanistan: One is bringing 
Al Qaida to justice, and we will not stop until we do that--that's what 
people need to know. Secondly is to make sure that the good hearts of 
the American people and the Russian people, and people all over the 
world, are affected. By that I mean that we get the aid to the starving 
folks in Afghanistan.
    By the way, they were starving prior to September the 11th, because 
of the Taliban Government's neglect. And we're doing everything we can 
to make sure we get food and medicine into the regions. Part of the 
problem has been the Taliban. They've been stopping the shipments of 
food, believe it or not. It won't surprise the President, because he 
understands how evil they are. We're just learning how evil they are in 
America.
    The other problem is to make sure that the distribution lines are 
now open, so that we can get food not only from places like Mazar-e-
Sharif, that we have now liberated, but from there into the remote 
regions of northern Afghanistan, in particular. It's important that we 
do that. And so we're working hard to make sure that we accomplish that 
mission.
    And the third objective is to make sure that, after we leave, that 
there is a stable government. As part of the way we built our coalition 
was to assure Russia--who has got a particular interest in this part of 
the world--and other countries that we weren't just going to come and 
achieve a military objective and disappear. We were going to come 
achieve a military objective, but also help this country become a 
reasonable partner in the world, a country that's able to foster peace 
and prosperity for its citizens. And that's an important part of this 
campaign. It's important.
    It's also important that we stay the course and be strong, because 
the stronger we are as a coalition, the stronger we are in achieving our 
objective, it is less likely somebody else is going to try to harbor a 
terrorist. Our objective is not just Al Qaida and Afghanistan. Our 
objective is to root out terrorism wherever it may hide, wherever it may 
exist, so the world can be more free. And that's a common objective of 
the President and mine.
    You've got a question for the President? We just call him ``Red.'' 
[Laughter]
    Student. My name is Danny White, and I'm a senior.
    President Bush. Danny White or Danny Red? [Laughter]
    Student. Danny White.
    President Bush. Oh, Danny White.

Nuclear Weapons Reduction

    Student. You say that we've reached an agreement to declare to 
reduce our nuclear weapons. In reducing our nuclear weapons, are we 
talking about de-alerting them and taking them off of alert status? Or 
are we actually talking about taking apart the warheads and destroying 
the weapon?
    President Bush. We are talking about reducing and destroying the 
number of warheads to get down to specific levels, from significantly 
higher levels today to significantly lower levels tomorrow. And, as 
well, most of our weapons are de-alerted. They're not on alert. However, 
it doesn't take them long to fire up, if we need them. Our mission is to 
make sure we never need them on each other. We need to get beyond the 
notion that in order to keep the peace, we've got to destroy each other. 
That's an old way of thinking. Now we're working together to figure out 
ways to address the new threats of the 21st century.
    I would like for the President to address that, as well.
    President Putin. First of all, I would like to say that it gives me 
great pleasure to be here in this room. And it's not quite clear for me 
whether I am here in the school or at NASA. [Laughter] Looking at the 
questions of the 12th graders, it comes

[[Page 1416]]

to my mind that everything is fine with this Nation and in this school.
    President Bush. That's right.
    President Putin. There indeed exists a number of scenarios of 
behavior in this situation. And the question was quite professionally 
put, mind you. You can just dismantle the warheads and rest them by the 
weapons, and to preserve the so-called strike-back capability, in order 
to be able to retaliate. But one may, on the other hand, destroy the 
arsenal. What do we do with those arsenals is subject to negotiations, 
with the result of those negotiations depending on the level of trust 
between the United States and Russia.
    Yesterday we tasted steak and listened to music, and all of this 
with a single purpose and objective, to increase the level of confidence 
between the leaders and the people. And if we are to follow this road 
further, we will certainly arrive at a solution, decision acceptable 
both to Russia, to the United States, and indeed to the entire world.

Advice to Youth

    Student. My name is Alicia Stanford. I'm a senior. As we go out into 
the world, do you have any advice for us?
    President Bush. Yes, listen to your mother. [Laughter] I do. I 
think, follow your dreams, would be my advice. Work hard; make the right 
choices, and follow your dreams. The other thing is, you never know 
where life is going to take you. I can assure you, when I was a senior 
in high school, I never sat in an audience saying, ``Gosh, if I work 
hard, I'll be President of the United States.'' [Laughter] Didn't 
exactly fit into my vocabulary in those days. [Laughter] But you never 
know. You never know. Trust the Lord, too.

Visit of President Putin

    Student. Did President Putin like the barbecue last night?
    President Bush. Ask him. [Laughter]
    President Putin. Just I had a hard time imagining how could a living 
person create such a masterpiece of cooking, a fantastic meal. And when 
I said so to the President, he said, ``Indeed, this cannot be done 
except for in Texas.'' [Laughter]
    President Bush. I think, Mr. President, we ought to ask one of the 
Russian high school students for a question. Please.
    Student. My name is Maria Vasulkova.
    President Bush. How old are you?

Russian-U.S. Economic Relations

    Student. Eighteen. What do you think, how are the improved relations 
between the two countries would influence the Russian economy and the 
future prospects for the entire world? In general, what do you think of 
this?
    President Putin. Russia has changed greatly recently. And today, the 
Russian economy is on the rise. The growth rates are considerably higher 
than the average for the world. Last year the growth rate was about 8.3 
percent; this year we're expecting the growth rates close to 6 percent.
    I would like to say that, unlike other economic negotiations and 
negotiators, Russia is not seeking and is not expecting any preferences 
or any free-buys. We even pay--return the debts of Russia to the 
international financial institutions ahead of schedule. Russia needs 
only one thing to develop normally. We need normal standards, 
conditions, and relations with all the leading economies of the world, 
and primarily with the United States. And we have to get rid of the 
ideological barricades of the preceding decades. And the President is 
helping.
    President Bush. Let me tell you an interesting story. We've sent 
teams of our economic people over to Russia. And Don Evans, who is a 
Texan, from Midland, Texas, who is now the Secretary of Commerce, came 
back and told me about an encounter her had. He met a guy, a young man 
in Russia who told him that 5 years ago he was really not a business 
guy, but

[[Page 1417]]

he had a dream, and he realized that he could buy bread in Moscow and 
transport it to St. Petersburg, and make a little profit, which was a 
pretty new concept for the Russian Federation. And as a result of 
working hard and having an environment which President Putin is working 
hard to create, which is an environment where there is a tax system 
that's fair--and, by the way, they've got a flat tax in Russia--
[laughter]--he built his own business. He now owns a grocery-store-type 
business.
    To me, that's an example of where the reforms that the President is 
putting in place are making sense, where people can own something--own 
their own business, own their own land, own the opportunity, if you work 
hard, to be able to have a future that you dream about. And the 
President understands that.
    Our job as a country is to help where asked. If there's ways that we 
can work together for our mutual interest, we will do so. And so one of 
the areas where I think the average Russian will realize that the 
stereotypes of America have changed is that it's a spirit of 
cooperation, not one-upmanship; that we now understand one plus one can 
equal three, as opposed to us and Russia we hope to be zero. It's just a 
different attitude in a different era. It's time to get the past behind 
us, and it's time to move forward. And that's exactly why we're here in 
Crawford, to show the world we are moving forward.
    A couple more questions, then I've got to go have lunch, and so does 
the President. Back there in the back.

National Missile Defense

    Student. My name is Sean Law. I was wondering if you've come to a 
conclusion about whether or not to deploy a national missile defense 
system?
    President Bush. Are you with the national press corps or--
[laughter]? I noticed my friends in the national press corps are giving 
you a thumbs-up. [Laughter] Oh, you're a debater. That's okay, then. 
[Laughter]
    This is an area that we've had a lot of discussions about. As you 
might remember, in the Presidential campaign I said, in very plain 
terms, that I felt the ABM Treaty signed in 1972 is outdated, that the 
treaty was signed during a period of time when we really hated each 
other, and we no longer hate each other; that I view the treaty as 
something we need to move beyond.
    And I made this very clear to the President. He understands our 
position, that it is in our Nation's interest and, I think, in his 
nation's interest and other peaceful nations' interest to be able to 
explore the ability--to determine whether or not we can be able to 
deploy defensive systems to prevent people who might have weapons of 
mass destruction from hurting us or holding us hostage or being able to 
blackmail free nations.
    He'll be glad to give you his position. We have a difference of 
opinion. But the great thing about our relationship is, our relationship 
is strong enough to endure this difference of opinion. And that's the 
positive development. We've found many areas in which we can cooperate, 
and we've found some areas where we disagree. But nevertheless, our 
disagreements will not divide us as nations that need to combine to make 
the world more peaceful and more prosperous.
    So, Mr. President, if you'd like to address defenses, you're welcome 
to.
    President Putin. I feel that time was not wasting by coming here. 
[Laughter] The President told me that we'll just limit ourselves to 
generalities, but he was mistaken. [Laughter] You are applauding 
yourselves. [Laughter]
    Our objective is a common both for the United States and for Russia. 
The objective is to achieve security for our states, for our nations, 
and for the entire world. We share the concerns of the President of the 
United States to the fact that we must think of the future threats. And 
here is a common ground for our further discussions.

[[Page 1418]]

    What we differ in is that we differ in the ways and means we 
perceive that are suitable for reaching the same objective. And given 
the nature of the relationship between the United States and Russia, one 
can rest assured that whatever final solution is found, it will not 
threaten or put to threat the interests of both our countries and of the 
world. And we shall continue our discussions.
    President Bush. This is the last question, and then what we're going 
to do is, we're going to walk around and say hello to everybody, and 
then we're going to go back to the ranch.
    Yes, ma'am.
    Student. My name is Judy Swinson, and I'm in seventh grade.
    President Bush. Seventh grade. Good.

Future Visit to Russia

    Student. And if you do go to Russia, are you going to be taking some 
kids from Crawford? [Laughter]
    President Bush. No. [Laughter]
    President Putin. I am extremely grateful for this question. The 
whole audience basically started on this note, and you finalized the 
whole thing with your question. [Laughter] This is not a mere 
coincidence, I believe. On our way here, the President invited to come 
here when it's plus-40 Celsius, more than 110, and he invited me to join 
a plus-40 club who jog when it is 110 and more. [Laughter] Well, I'll 
think about it. [Laughter]
    Indeed, in our country, there are regions where people live, by the 
way, in Siberia, where for one--last year, for 2 weeks in a row, the 
temperatures were about around or below minus-50 Celsius--for 2 weeks 
running. My promise is, I will not terrorize your President with such 
low temperatures--[laughter]--and would be glad to see any of you 
present here in Russia.
    But first of all, I would like to address here at this juncture our 
hosts, the schoolchildren, the young audience here. At the count of 
three, those who want your President to come to Russia, raise your hands 
and say yes. One, two----
    Audience members. Yes!
    President Bush. Thank you all. Very good night.

 Note: The President spoke at 10:48 a.m. in the gymnasium. In his 
remarks, he referred to President Putin's daughters, Masha and Katya; 
rescued humanitarian aid workers Heather Mercer and Dayna Curry; and 
Russian exchange students Maria Vasulkova, Timur Kurmaev, Alexander 
Mairin, Natalia Smirnova, Dmitri Kapitonov, Svetlana Mordasova, and 
Anastasia Proconich. President Putin spoke in Russian, and his remarks 
were translated by an interpreter. The Office of the Press Secretary 
also released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.