    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 25, 2002]
    [Pages 886-888]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters During a Tour of the State Hermitage Museum in
    St. Petersburg, Russia
    May 25, 2002

    President's Visit to Russia

        Q. Mr. President, allow me to ask you--[inaudible]--summarize
    results of your--[inaudible]. And the second part of that question, the
    expectation of the Moscow summit--how do you think----
        President Bush. Well, first, the hospitality has been magnificent.
    The time we spent last night with the
    Putins in their beautiful home was very
    relaxing for Laura and me. It gave us a great chance to see how the
    Putins live, a very good sense of their values. I think the thing that
    struck me the most was how they have raised their daughters. They've got two
    beautiful daughters who are incredibly talented young ladies. It is
    clear their mom and dad love them a lot, and that was impressive to
    Laura and me.
        The other good piece of news is, I got to go actually run outside--
    [laughter]--which is a difficult thing for me to do when I'm on the road
    and in Washington as well. I ran on beautiful grounds; it's such a
    spectacular piece of property. And then we had a wonderful breakfast--
    special Russian foods. It's been a wonderful, relaxing experience.
        I was very touched that the President
    took time yesterday, after going to the Kremlin--after going to Red
    Square, to take us to his office. And I thought it was a great personal
    touch; that was important, to see the private side of this man's life.
    It meant a lot.
        Secondly, I think the summit was--met expectations; it met my
    expectations. I hope it met the President's
    expectations. We not only signed a very important treaty, we signed a--
    you know, a very important protocol of how our relations ought to go
    forward, and I'm really glad that--I'm glad that all the hard work on
    both sides has paid off. And this will be good for the Russian people.
    This agreement will be good for the people of Russia, and it'll be good
    for the people of America.
        You know, at the St. Petersburg cemetery today, the lady who gave us
    a tour spoke about peace and how it was important for everybody who
    walked those hallowed grounds to remember the ravages of war and to
    remember the importance of peace. And I explained to her that this visit
    was a visit of peace, where we cast aside the old ways of suspicion and
    now embrace peace.
        Sorry about the interpreter. [Laughter]
        Q. [Inaudible]--interpretation.
        President Bush. Okay. Well, good luck. [Laughter]

    [At this point, a question was asked in Russian, and no translation was
    provided.]

        President Vladimir Putin of Russia. As
    far as the staying of Mr. President and his wife in our home yesterday,
    I would like you to know two things. For one thing, our personal
    relations to--have been greatly strengthened. They're very happy to know
    that I'm dealing with very honest and upward and straight people. That
    is one.
        And then there is something else, which is by no means a political
    thing. Yesterday, when we had our dinner and I was treating my guests,
    of course, to the Russian caviar, and I told him how some of the caviar
    is produced. The experts would take the fish and open up the fish and
    then take the caviar and then throw out the fish again--and throw it
    back into the water. [Laughter] Everybody was laughing, thinking that I
    was really inventing things on the spot, something really improbable.
    [Laughter] But I was trying to convince them--I was really trying to
    tell them that

    [[Page 887]]

    I was telling the truth; that's how we treated the environment.
    [Laughter]
        The Secretary of State, the Russian Foreign Minister, Dr. Rice, Mr.
    Ivanov, and also both wives--my wife and Mr. President's wife--all
    laughed at me. And there was only one person who wouldn't laugh and
    said, ``I do believe you, Mr. President,'' and that was the President of
    the United States. [Laughter] And I want to confirm it here and now;
    that's the truth, ladies and gentlemen. [Laughter]
        And one more thing. The dinner, the supper was over somewhere around
    midnight, because we were supposed to go to St. Petersburg early in the
    morning. Of course, we got up very early; we didn't have enough sleep
    this morning. And when last night, before going to bed, Mr. President
    told me that he would be jogging in the morning, I wouldn't believe him.
    [Laughter] But he was doing that, just that.
        Well, on a serious note, as far as the results of this visit are
    concerned, I would like to say that myself and my experts, all my
    experts, we have been discussing the results of the visit this morning,
    and we have officially agreed that we are satisfied, and all the goals
    of this visit have been achieved.
        I thank you.
        President Bush. One question, Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press],
    go ahead.

    Pakistan-India Relations

        Q. If I could ask you real quickly, sir, is there anything personal
    you can do to ease tensions between Pakistan and India? And do you think
    President Musharraf is doing enough to crack down on terrorism in
    Kashmir?
        President Bush. We are spending a lot of time on this subject--
    ``we'' being the administration. And we're making it very clear to both
    parties that there is--there's no benefit of a war, there's no benefit
    of a clash that could eventually lead to a broader war.
        We're deeply concerned about the rhetoric. It is very important for
    President Musharraf to stop--do what he
    said he's going to do to in his speech on terror, and that is stop the
    incursions across the line--the line of control. It's important that the
    Indians know that he is going to fulfill that promise.
        Vladimir and I have talked about this,
    and he's got--he as well as the United States and Great Britain and
    other countries have got influence in the region, and he is going to
    meet soon at a conference where we believe Prime Minister
    Vajpayee and President
    Musharraf will both be attending.
        My point is, is that there's a lot of diplomatic efforts going into
    bringing some calm and reason to the region.
        President Putin. An international event
    is planned for the early June this year in Kazakhstan, where both
    President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee have been invited. I do
    hope they will come, and there would be an opportunity for us to discuss
    things. And we have covered that ground with the President of the United
    States.
        Of course, the testing, while there is escalating tension, really
    aggravates the situation, and Russia is concerned and sorry about that.
    I'm sorry about that. And we shall be working together to take steps in
    order to prevent the escalation of the conflict.
        President Bush. Thank you all.

    Note: The exchange began at 1:05 p.m. In his remarks, President Bush
    referred to President Putin's daughters, Masha and Katya, and his wife,
    Lyudmila; President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; and Prime Minister
    Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India. President Putin referred to Minister of
    Foreign Affairs Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov and Minister of Defense Sergey
    Borisovich Ivanov of Russia. The transcript released by the Office of
    the Press Secretary also included the closing remark of President Putin.
    A tape was not

    [[Page 888]]

    available for verification of the content of this exchange.