[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

[[Page 862]]

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.

[[Page 863]]

    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

[[Page 864]]

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.

[[Page 865]]

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

[[Page 866]]

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

[[Page 867]]

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.