    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
    [May 24, 2002]
    [Pages 861-867]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow
    May 24, 2002

        President Bush. President Putin, thank you very much. Laura and I
    are so grateful for your hospitality and your friendship. It's an
    historic and hopeful day for Russia and America. It's an historic day
    for the world as well.
        President Putin and I today ended a long chapter of confrontation
    and opened up an entirely new relationship between our countries. Mr.
    President, I appreciate your leadership. I appreciate your vision. I
    appreciate the fact that we've now laid the foundation for not only our
    governments but future governments to work in a spirit of cooperation
    and a spirit of trust. That's good. It's good for the people of Russia;
    it's good for the people of the United States.
        President Putin and I have signed a treaty that will substantially
    reduce our nuclear--strategic nuclear warhead arsenals to the range of
    1,700 to 2,200, the lowest level in decades. This treaty liquidates the
    cold war legacy of nuclear hostility between our countries.
        We've also signed a joint declaration of new strategic relationship
    that charts a course toward greater security, political, and economic
    cooperation between Russia and the United States. Our nations will
    continue to cooperate closely in the war against global terror. I
    understand full well that the people of Russia have suffered at the
    hands of terrorists, and so have we. And I want to thank President Putin
    for his understanding of the nature of the new war we face together and
    his willingness to be determined and steadfast and patient as we pursue
    this war together.
        President Putin and I agree also that the greatest danger in this
    war is the prospect of terrorists acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
    Our nations must spare no effort at preventing all forms of
    proliferation. And we discussed Iran in this context today. We'll work
    closely with each other on this very important issue.
        Our nations also agree on the importance of a new NATO-Russia
    Council that will be launched in a few days in Rome. And Mr. President,
    this council is also a tribute to your leadership and your vision. For
    decades, Russia and NATO were adversaries. Those days are gone, and
    that's good. And that's good for the Russian people; it's good for the
    people of my country; it's good for the people of Europe; and it's good
    for the people of the world.
        Russia and the United States are also determined to work closely on
    important regional challenges. Together, we will work to rebuild
    Afghanistan. Together, we will work to improve security in Georgia. We
    will work to help end fighting and achieve a political settlement in
    Chechnya.
        Russia and the United States are committed to economic cooperation.
    We have launched a major new energy partnership. Private firms will take
    the lead in developing and transforming the vast energy reserves of
    Russia and the Caspian world to markets through multiple pipelines such
    as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and Baku-Jihan. And I want to thank
    you for the cooperation and the willingness to work together on energy
    and energy security.
        Russia is building its market economy, opening new opportunities for
    both our countries. I'm impressed by the level of entrepreneurial growth
    here in Russia. It's a significant achievement. Again, it's a testimony
    to the leadership of Vladimir Putin.
        In a while, we're going to meet with Russian and American business
    leaders to discuss how we can continue fostering good relations and
    fostering opportunity. We

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    want Russia to be a part of the world economy. We look forward to one
    day welcoming Russia as a member of the World Trade Organization.
    President Putin and I also agree that we'll work to resolve disputed
    areas of trading, such as poultry or steel, in a spirit of mutual
    respect and trust.
        America welcomes the dramatic improvement in freedoms in Russia
    since Soviet days, including the new freedoms of Russia's Jewish
    community. In recognition of these freedoms, I am determined to work
    with Congress to remove Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment. It is
    time our Congress responded to my request, President Putin's desire,
    that the Jackson-Vanik amendment be removed pertaining to Russia.
        I also discussed with President Putin the important role of free
    press in building a working democracy. And today we will meet with media
    entrepreneurs from both countries. It's an issue we discussed before.
    The President said it makes sense to have a forum where media
    entrepreneurs can meet and visit. And it's going to take place today.
    Mr. President, I appreciate that.
        I am pleased with our relationship. I am confident that, by working
    together, we make the world more peaceful. I'm confident that, by
    working together, we can win the first war of the 21st century, and that
    is the war coldblooded killers--against coldblooded killers who want to
    harm nations such as America and Russia. And I'm confident that, when we
    work together in a spirit of cooperation on all fronts, both our peoples
    will benefit.
        Mr. President, thank you for your hospitality.
        President Putin. Distinguished American colleagues, distinguished
    Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, we've just accomplished the
    official part of our talks with U.S. President George Bush. Before our
    distinguished colleagues are the visit in Moscow and in St. Petersburg.
    But now we can name the major result of our talks--first of all, the
    logical development and practical implementation as seen by our
    agreements reached in Crawford last year. I mean the signature of the
    treaty between Russia on strategic defensive reductions and, first of
    all, this document.
        It's the statement of our countries to reduce our nuclear arsenals
    and the joint work for nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
    It's the decision of two states which are particularly responsible for
    international security and strategic stability. We're on the level of
    adopting the declaration on new strategic relationship which determines
    the basic directions in the security and international policy. It will
    have a positive impact for economic cooperation and development of our
    relations between the institutions of general public. And together with
    Mr. President, we discussed especially this aspect, the civil society
    between the people of our countries. The declaration formulates the
    principles of our dialog, anti-missile dialog; that is, the transparency
    and openness and exclusion of potential threats. We confirmed the Genoa
    agreement on offensive and defensive systems in all their aspects.
        A separate issue, the mechanism of NATO-Russia cooperation within
    the framework of 20, it presumes a new level of joint responsibility and
    confidence between all its participants. I would like to stress,
    especially, that is the international novelty. And it happened because
    of the strengthening of Russian-American relations, including in joint
    confrontation to international terrorists--struggling with international
    terrorism. Russians work together with the American people in September
    the 8th, and we're grateful for sincere feelings of compassion headed by
    President Bush on behalf of American people because of the recent events
    in Kaspiysk. The memory of terrorism victims and the responsibility for
    the security of our people means joint struggle against this evil, as
    well as the struggle against nazism. The spirit of our cooperation will
    mean fruitful results even today.

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        That's why the agenda has very concrete issues of interaction
    against terrorism on the basis of unique standards against any
    manifestation of terrorism and extremism. We need close contacts through
    all agencies and services, including special services. Here we have very
    positive experience we've accrued over the past years. And we see
    today--we feel it today during the negotiations. The bilateral working
    group on Afghanistan has demonstrated its efficiency. And we, Mr.
    President, would like to transform it on a group to combat terrorism,
    especially chemical, biological, nuclear terrorism.
        Russia and the United States are oriented to build new relations in
    economic activity. Our businessman mentality is much alike, that their
    qualities and their joint work is based on free trade and supporting the
    initiatives. That's why our task is to open new opportunities for
    business community.
        We need to avoid obstacles of the past. Here we mean not only the
    market status of the Russian economy--and I'm grateful to Mr. President
    that he has given a very positive signal during our talks. And it does
    also mean such things as Jackson-Vanik amendment. We have to remove
    administrative obstacles, which encurls both countries, to cooperate,
    especially in the high-tech sphere, which determined the economy of the
    21st century; that is, the aeronautics, telecommunications, science and
    technologies, new sources of energy. I would like to focus on energy,
    especially nuclear energy. We paid much attention to it today. And the
    large format of our cooperation will be a great element for the global
    economy on the whole.
        I would like to stress, in conclusion, that, of course, not all
    ideas, not all initiatives, are on paper and in the form of official
    documents. But a serious move forward in all these issues is quite
    evident for us. Today, we together counteract global threats and
    challenges, and we're going to form a stable world order that is within
    the interests of our peoples and our countries. And I think it's in the
    interest of all the civilized human society.
        Thank you.
        President Bush. Name your agency.

    Nuclear Arms Reductions

        Q. I have a question for both Presidents, please. If we've truly
    entered a new era, why do you each need 1,700 nuclear weapons? And
    President Putin, why does Russia need to continue producing nuclear
    warheads? And to President Bush, why does the United States need to keep
    some 2,000 of these weapons in storage, ready for deployment?
        President Bush. Yes. First of all, remember where we've come from.
    We've come from 6,000 to 1,700 in a very quick--or to 1,700 to 2,200 in
    a very quick period of time. You know, friends really don't need weapons
    pointed at each other. We both understand that. But it's a realistic
    assessment of where we've been. And who knows what will happen 10 years
    from now? Who knows what future Presidents will say and how they react?
        If you have a nuclear arsenal, you want to make sure they work.
    It's--one reason that you keep weapons in storage apart from launchers
    is for quality control. And the thing I think it's important for you to
    know, Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press], is that we've made
    tremendous progress from the past. And the treaty is setting a period of
    time in the rear-view mirror of both countries. And I am not only
    confident that this is good for world peace; I'm confident this sets the
    stage for incredible cooperation that we've never had before between our
    countries.
        President Putin. I concur with the assessment given by my colleague,
    Mr. Bush. And naturally, our position is well known. We are guided by
    the facts that it's more worthwhile, perhaps, to eliminate a certain
    part of nuclear potentials. At the same time, I'd like to point out
    another thing here. Any man who has at least once in

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    his career dealt with arms, had arms in his hands, at least to hunt or a
    rifle or whatever, he knows that it's much better, much safer to have it
    in stock disarmed, disassembled perhaps, rather than to have it in your
    arms and charged with bullets in it and with your finger on the trigger
    at the same time. This is a different state of affairs, as it were.
        And the fact that we agreed with President Bush regarding such
    detente, in such manner, this is a serious move ahead to ensure
    international security, which is a very good sign as regards the
    relationship between our two countries.
        Now, as to why Russia should continue to produce nuclear arms, I'd
    like to say that this is not our priority. But in addition to Russia and
    U.S. out there, there are other states who possess nuclear arms. What is
    more concerning, there are countries who want to acquire weapons of mass
    destruction. Experts in the area of international security are aware of
    the fact, and they have been talking a lot about nuclear arms as
    deterrent.
        Moreover, many of them assert--and it is difficult to dispute this
    fact--they say the existence of the nuclear arms was an impediment, an
    obstacle which contained the world from large-scale wars over the past
    decades, let's say. And I think we should take that into consideration
    while building a new quality of relationship within the two main nuclear
    states of the world.
        We also should pay attention to the whole set of relations currently
    in the world out there, and we should take into account the prospects of
    development of the world in the realm of security, bearing in mind those
    potential threats I've mentioned here.

    Jackson-Vanik Amendment/Russia-U.S. Economic Relationship

        Q. Mr. Bush, when we can hope that Jackson-Vanik will be rescinded,
    which currently is very out of place? That's, you know, a remnant of the
    cold war here. And will the U.S. continue to use it as a leverage of
    applying pressure on Russia and when Russia will finally be recognized
    as a marketplace country? And what's the prospect of Russia's accession
    to WTO?
        And now to Mr. Putin, Russian President. What's your idea of how
    U.S. Boeings can help Russian civil aviation?
        President Bush. I couldn't make myself clearer during my opening
    statement about how I feel about Jackson-Vanik--not much action by the
    Congress of the United States, and I hope they act. The market-based
    economy is an issue that the President and I talked about. It is a
    regulatory matter, the responsibility of which resides at the Commerce
    Department. Secretary Evans and I have to
    talk about this subject, and we'll have an answer to the President soon.
        And in terms of success of Russia ascending into the WTO, it's
    something that we want. It's in our Nation's interest that Russia be a
    part of the WTO. And we look forward to working with the President and
    respective ministers to see that that happens. It's in our interest that
    that happen. So it's hard for me to predict the timetables on all the
    issues you mentioned. Those over which I have got direct control will
    happen relatively quickly.
        President Putin. Well, you know, while talking about the whole set
    of commercial and trade ties between our two countries, today we've
    mentioned more than once that we are facing somewhat an unusual
    situation in this area today, which has to do with the fact that while
    improving relations in disarmament matters, building confidence and so
    on and so forth, at the same time, we're expanding the whole set of
    relations in economic area. And naturally, we'll face new problems we
    never had to deal with before.
        The position taken by the U.S. administration and the President is
    known to us as regards Jackson-Vanik. It's precisely the administration
    who initiated its rescinding.

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    And business communities of our two countries, American and Russian
    business communities, and their interaction together with the
    interaction of the parliamentary issues, will be able to remove similar
    problems in automatic manner, I guess.
        Now, as regards your specific question on purchase of Boeings, I
    must say that the best lobbyist of the interests of U.S. companies will
    be American President standing here, since both Boeings and poultry and
    other matters very often have been told by my colleagues. People usually
    say, ``Well, it's not on our level, but I must say,'' and then there
    will be a lengthy monolog on specific matters.
        Anyhow, you've posed a very acute and very specific question. Why
    it's acute?--Because it's on the agenda--or practical interaction. And
    it's very specific since it has a bearing to very specific matters. And
    since it's acute and specific, I'll answer as one should in gentlemen's
    society, in a very general manner.
        First and foremost, our carriers, in my opinion, should be primarily
    guided towards Russian aircraft producers. Why?--because Russian
    manufacturers, you know, don't have anywhere to sell their products
    otherwise, because they are not let anywhere--or with a lot of
    difficulty. They only can sell it domestically; that's the first thing.
    And here we can talk about interaction on the market.
        Now, the second thing, our carriers, primarily Aeroflot, should be
    competitive on the market and should have advanced technology in their
    hands. Therefore, they both have American Boeings today; they also have
    European Airbus aircraft. And the question has been raised currently on
    additional purchase, on replacement of old equipment with those foreign
    aircraft.
        Now, I should say, depending on the decision to be taken by economic
    structures--this is not a political question, mind you. The economic
    structure should decide on it. A lot will depend on it in regards of the
    state of our political interaction, of course. And our American
    colleagues' proposal today is a little bit costlier than the Europeans'
    proposal. Had Americans bought our cheap aluminum and steel, then their
    aircraft would have been cheaper and more competitive, including in our
    market.
        So all of this jointly has been a subject of our discussions with
    the President here, and our good friend and partner, Secretary of
    Commerce and economy. And I think that in the course of normalization of
    trade and commerce relations, all these issues will be addressed in a
    most mutually advantageous manner.

    Iran/Nuclear Nonproliferation

        Q. [Inaudible]--state sponsor of terrorism. I wonder because of
    that, if these Russians sales that you object to continue, does that--
    this new strategic relationship you're discussing today bump up against
    what you outlined in your speech to Congress when you said, in the war
    against terrorism, you're either with the United States or against the
    United States?
        And President Putin, the Bush team says that your sales of nuclear
    technology and sophisticated military technology to Iran are the world's
    single biggest proliferation problem right now. Do you agree with that
    assessment, and did you make any specific promises today in your meeting
    with President Bush?
        President Bush. Well, first, we spent a lot of time on this subject.
    And as I said yesterday in Germany, I worry about Iran. And I'm
    confident Vladimir Putin worries about Iran, and that was confirmed
    today. He understands terrorist threats, just like we understand
    terrorist threats. And he understands that weapons of mass destruction
    are dangerous to Russia, just as they are to America. And he's explained
    that point himself, of course, now that he's standing here.
        But we spoke very frankly and honestly about the need to make sure
    that a nontransparent government run by radical clerics doesn't get
    their hands on weapons of

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    mass destruction. It could be harmful to us and harmful to Russia. And
    the President can speak for himself. And he gave me some assurances that
    I think will be very comforting for you to listen to. And I'm confident
    we can work together on this issue. This is in both our countries'
    mutual interest that we solve this problem.
        President Putin. I will confirm what Mr. Bush has just said, and I
    agree with your evaluation of threats in this regard. Generally
    speaking, I believe that the problem of nonproliferation is one of the
    key problems as regards ensuring international security.
        Incidentally, this happened to be one of the main motivating and
    underpinning logical stimuluses to work in Russia-NATO framework
    together on nonproliferation on nuclear arms.
        At the same time, I'd like to point out that cooperation between
    Iran and Russia is not of a character which would undermine the process
    on nonproliferation. Our cooperation is exclusively, as regards energy
    sector, focused on the problems of economic nature. I'd like to point
    out also that the U.S. has taken a commitment upon themselves to build
    similar nuclear powerplant in North Korea, similar to Russia.
        And in addition to Iran, I think, we also need to think about other
    countries here. For example, we have some questions concerning
    development of missile programs in Taiwan, in some other countries where
    we've been witnessing active work of producing mass destruction weapons
    and their carriers. All of that should be a subject of our in-depth
    discussion both bilaterally and in the frameworks of NATO-Russia
    agreement. That's one of the key issues of the modern times, I believe.
        It would seem to me that in order to be efficient, in this sense,
    like in other areas, we need to address the main task, to upgrade
    confidence mutually. And today I mentioned to President Bush here that
    as regards Iran and some other countries, according to our data, the
    missile programs of those countries, nuclear programs, are built largely
    on the basis of the technologies and with the support of the Western
    companies. We do have such info, and we stand ready to share it with our
    American partners. So if we pursued that way, not dealing with
    generalities, then we'll get results with respect to this very
    complicated and very important for our two countries track.
        And the conclusive question--[inaudible].

    Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty

        Q. Mayak Radio Station. To both Presidents, to what extent the
    treaty ensures real nuclear parity, and are there conditions that the
    treaty can be terminated by either side? And how true is the fact that
    Russia still remains as one of the nuclear targets for nuclear forces?
    And how does that relate to the announced new strategic relations
    between our two countries?
        President Bush. Well, it is a treaty. This document is a treaty that
    will be confirmed by the United States Senate and the Duma, hopefully.
    Secondly, treaties have always had outs; there's nothing new about that.
    There are conditions of which things may change, and people get out of
    treaties. That's the way it's been. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
    had an out; there's nothing new about that. And thirdly, you know, we
    are going to work to end the--forever end the cold war. And that begins
    with the statement that Russia's our friend, not our enemy.
        And you say ``targeting''--I mean, the idea of our weaponry--our
    military has no aims at Russia. There may be old vestiges in place, but
    Russia's not an enemy. You don't think about how to deal with Russia the
    way they used to. Russia is a friend, and that's the new thinking.
    That's part of what's being codified today.
        President Putin. As regards the parity, the parity relationship of
    sorts, the weight of military potentials and nuclear potential, and so
    on, so forth, each state would have

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    its own strategy of development of what you refer to as nuclear
    deterrent process. But I'd like to assure you that all the action
    undertaken by us in this area fully confirmed with the interests of the
    Russian Federation. The documents signed today are a result of joint
    effort of the Minister of Defense and Chiefs of Staff and our Minister
    of Foreign Affairs, of course, jointly with our American colleagues. And
    we proceed from the assumption we have today, and we try to forecast the
    status of affairs in the world for a lengthy period of time--I would
    like to point out, again, for a lengthy perspective.
        Now, as regards the question of verification and control, perhaps,
    I'd like to point out that we're very much satisfied with the U.S.
    administration approach to this question. Our American partners have
    agreed that we need to retain START I, which is provided for by the
    system of verification. We agreed we will continue this work on the
    basis of the documents signed today as well.
        And what was the second part of the question, incidentally? The mike
    was off at this time. Regarding those targets, that was not to me. I
    will also make a remark here, regarding aiming targets. And Mr.
    Baluyevskiy, our military First Deputy Chief of Staff, is here with us.
    He and his American counterpart are full aware of those things,
    targeting aims and other things involved, and what is the status today
    of those aimings and targeting. All in speculations in the press are
    nothing but expression of domestic political infight either here or in
    the U.S., just on the verge of the visit.
        We are not being emotional here. We're not talking to the press, but
    as experts, we're full aware of that, and we have no concern whatsoever
    in this regard.
        Thank you. Thank you for your kind attention and for your
    participation.

    Note: The President's news conference began at 12:55 p.m. in St.
    Andrew's Hall at the Kremlin. President Putin spoke in Russian, and his
    remarks were translated by an interpreter. In his remarks, President
    Bush referred to the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which placed restrictions
    on normalized trade relations between the U.S. and Russia and other
    countries of the former Soviet Union based on their economic structure
    and emigration policies. President Putin referred to Gen.-Col. Yuriy
    Nikolayevich Baluyevskiy, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff,
    Russian Federation Armed Forces. Prior to their news conference,
    President Bush and President Putin signed the Treaty Between the United
    States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive
    Reductions.