    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 24, 2002]
    [Pages 860-861]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to Discussions With President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow, Russia
    May 24, 2002

        President Putin. Distinguished Mr. President, distinguished
    colleagues and friends, we are happy to welcome you in the capital of
    Russia and in the heart of it, in the Kremlin of Moscow.
        This is the first visit of the President in office of the United
    States of America to the Russian Federation, and I'm very pleased to
    note that this visit is of a different quality than all previous visits
    of the heads of the U.S. state to our country.
        I'd like to underline that if prior to this time virtually all
    meetings at this level were dedicated to overcoming contradictions or
    consequences of those contradictions, today we have the right to state
    the creation of an absolutely new quality to our relationship. This
    touches upon the issues of security, the issues of limitation of a
    strategical process, and our participation in the building of the new
    safe world. And this has a bearing to the quality of trust for the
    relationship. And all this happened over the past months, past 12 or 18
    months, with active participation and support of this process on behalf
    of the President of the United States, Mr. Bush, and his team.
        Therefore, we're especially pleased, distinguished Mr. President, to
    receive you here in Moscow, in Russia. Myself and my colleagues recall
    the warmth of the reception we were accorded in the United States,
    including in your home, in your family, and we would like very much to
    respond with a similar hospitality. And we hope and we're confident that
    your visit to our country will be very productive and will serve a
    powerful thrust to the development of our relationship.
        Welcome, Mr. President.
        President Bush. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate
    your hospitality. It's a magnificent setting for our very important
    discussions and our signing of a treaty which says--it says that we're
    friends, that we're going to cast aside old doubts and suspicions and
    welcome a new era between the relations between your great country and
    our country.
        I'm really looking forward to coming to your home tonight to have
    dinner. We'll work all day long, and then I look forward to relaxing
    with you in the setting of your home. I think it's--I think it's an
    important signal for the world to see that we take our jobs very
    seriously and we visit in formal settings, we talk about important
    issues, and then after the working day is over, we will settle down as
    friends and have dinner together.
        This is a day that has required your strong leadership and your
    vision, and I want to congratulate you and your team on working hard
    toward a vision of a world that is more peaceful and a world that is
    more prosperous for all of us.
        And so, thank you, sir, for your hospitality and for your
    friendship.

    Note: The remarks began at 11:58 a.m. in St. Catherine's Room at the
    Kremlin. President Putin spoke in Russian, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter. The Presidents spoke following their one-
    on-one meeting and prior to an expanded bilateral meeting.

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