[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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