[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[May 25, 2002]
[Pages 888-894]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks and a Question-and-Answer Session With Students at




St. Petersburg State University in St. Petersburg
May 25, 2002

    President Vladimir Putin of Russia. 
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for having me here. It's a 
great pleasure, as always, to be with young people, but especially here 
since I graduated from this university; it's a double pleasure for me to 
be here. But this university played a dual role in my career. The first 
time, when they basically gave me a present--they just gave me the 
degree that I earned--that was the one important part. [Laughter]
    The second very important facet in my life was when I worked here 
for the rector of the university as an assistant, helping him in the 
area of international contacts between and among various universities. 
And what I was doing was doing the same thing the rector was just 
talking about; I was setting up the initial contacts between our 
university and various other universities around the world. So what we 
did once, we invited the president of a midsize college from St. 
Petersburg, Florida, to come here and pay us a visit, since they had the 
same name. So then, what I did is I talked the former mayor, Mr. 
Sobchak, to receive this president of this college. So he, in turn, 
invited him to come to the United States. And this Mr. Carter, who was 
the head of this college in St. Pete, arranged a visit with one of the 
Presidents of the United States at the time, and I think his name was 
Bush. [Laughter] After that, he invited me to come to work for him, and 
the rest of my career is history, as they say. [Laughter]
    Well, to be very, very serious now, it's really a great pleasure to 
have business and dealings with students because students are very 
direct, as you know. And they also feel the rhythm of civilization as 
it's changing.
    When we were guests of the Bushes in Crawford, Texas, we also were 
given an opportunity to meet with young people. I think this will become 
a very fine tradition.
    President Bush. That's right.
    President Putin. And I think Mr. Bush 
also was waiting for this opportunity, because he asked me several times 
about this possibility. Well, George Bush and I don't know each other 
for that long; I think it's a little bit less than 2 years. But what 
we're trying to do is establish the environment which would be very 
conducive to having people in both of our countries meet, have 
opportunities to make contacts, and get along better.
    I don't want this to sound like a major report here, but I just want 
to inform you that we have just signed two major agreements between our 
two countries. One of them is having to do with the reduction in 
strategic arms of the two countries, and the other one is called an 
agreement on a new strategic relationship between the two countries. As 
we all know, people are divided into two groups, optimists and 
pessimists, and the pessimists will always find something wrong. 
Optimists, however, will find in these two documents that we signed a 
lot of things that are very useful and beneficial.
    But it's wonderful to deal with young people because, by their very 
nature, they're optimists and they look into the future. And that's why 
we're here, among other things.

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    So today, when we were coming to the conclusion of our visit to the 
Hermitage--and we were running late so we were in a hurry--Mr. 
Piotrovsky, who really had very little time, said, ``By the way, before 
we leave I want to show you a portrait,'' which was a portrait of our 
great Tsaritsa Catherine the Great. And Mr. Bush, without missing a 
beat, said, ``Oh, and by the way, where is the portrait of Potemkin?'' 
[Laughter]
    So when you ask questions, I ask you to give me the easy questions 
and give Mr. Bush the tough questions. [Laughter] And with pleasure, I 
give the word to George Bush.
    President Bush. Thank you very much. Madam President, thank you for your hospitality. Laura and 
I are honored to be here at this famous university. I'm particularly 
pleased to be coming to this university because it is the alma mater of 
your President and my friend, Vladimir Putin. 
But even more importantly, it is Mrs. Putin's 
alma mater. [Laughter]
    The President was talking about a seminar 
on international relations. I guess this is the most sophisticated 
seminar on international relations that you could possibly have. So I'll 
give you a quick insight as to what it's like to be involved with 
international relations.
    There we were, as guests of the 
Putins in their private home last night. We 
talked about our families; we talked about our passions; we talked about 
matters of life that friends would talk about. The best international 
relations start when people care about the other person, when they try 
to figure out how the other person thinks and what makes the other 
person's life go forward. We've had a lot of negotiations, of course. 
But the thing that impressed me the most about the President and his 
wife was how much they loved their 
daughters. That's a universal value. It's an 
impressive value.
    When I got out of college in 1968, America and the Soviet Union were 
enemies--bitter enemies. Today, America and Russia are friends. It's 
important for you to know that that era is long gone as far as I'm 
concerned. The treaty we signed says a lot about nuclear arms. It speaks 
about the need for peace, but it also says the cold war is over, and 
America and Russia need to be and will be friends, for the good of the 
world.
    And so it's my honor to come. I look forward to answering your 
questions. Since Vladimir went here to St. 
Petersburg, it only seems fair that the hard ones go to him. [Laughter] 
We'll be glad to handle your questions.

Russia's Brain Drain

    Q. [Inaudible]--from the Sociology Department, and the question is: 
Everyone knows what the brain drain problem is, and it is an open secret 
that the traffic of brain drain is mostly oriented to the United States. 
I wonder what the Presidents of these two countries think about this 
problem.
    President Putin. I'll tell you right 
away: He'll say it's good; I'll say it's bad. [Laughter] But if you look 
at it a little more deeply, I'll get a little more serious and give you 
some more detail. There are two methods for stopping this occurrence: 
First of all, close the country down once again and create such 
regulatory conditions where people will lose the right to move freely; 
second is, in a free economy, to create economic conditions, conditions 
of prosperity for all those people so that they wish to stay here and 
work. And I think we have to take the second path.
    President Bush. I--first of all, there's a lot of brains in this 
room, and you get to decide whether there's a brain drain in Russia. I 
tell Vladimir all the time--I mean, Mr. 
President all the time that Russia's most precious resource is the 
brainpower of this country. And you've got a lot of it. It's going to 
take a lot of brains in Russia to create a drain. There are plenty of 
bright and smart people in Russia. Your history

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says that. I'm absolutely convinced that the future of this country is 
incredibly bright, first, because of the great imagination and intellect 
of the Russian people, and second, because you've got a leader who 
understands that freedom is going to enhance the future of this country.
    You need to know that my view of foreign relations is not only to 
promote peace, but it's also to work with our friends the Russians so 
that the quality of life in both our countries improves.
    And so, finally, your question had a little bit of a slightly 
pessimistic tone to it--only slightly. I'm optimistic about Russia, and 
a strong and prosperous and peaceful Russia is good for America.

Future of the Russian Economy

    Q. [Inaudible]--from the Department of Economics, and I would like 
to ask this question: We are involved in high technology exports, and my 
question in fact is, when will the time come when the bulk of the 
exports from Russia would be high technology and high-technology 
products, and not the primary products like oil and wood as the 
situation is now?
    President Bush. Good question.
    President Putin. It's a very professional 
question. And you, as an economist, understand very well that this 
situation did not just happen yesterday. The world market demands those 
products that are competitive. And the things that you mentioned, the 
high-tech kinds of things that you mentioned are in great demand in the 
world marketplace. And it's a no-brainer to understand that there were 
the kinds of talent and the kinds of products in the old Soviet Union 
that, in fact, had been in demand, because the best brains were directed 
precisely in that direction in those days.
    One of these areas, for instance, is missile technology, and our 
cooperation with the United States in this area can be measured in the 
billions of U.S. dollar equivalents. And during this summit, we 
dedicated a substantial portion of our discussion time precisely to this 
issue, which I consider very important if we are to remove many of the 
things that are obstacles in allowing high tech to come into Russia. And 
these obstacles and limitations were placed upon us back in the days of 
the Soviet Union and by their very inertia continue on and on.
    Therefore, many of the products come into Russia from third 
countries, from Europe, from Asia, and not from the United States. We 
think that it's not good for our bilateral relations with the United 
States. We have to do better. And that's why a great amount of time was 
spent by President Bush and myself in trying to find ways to remove 
these obstacles. We also spent a lot of time thinking about what we, 
ourselves, have to do internally in Russia to help get rid of these 
obstacles.
    But since we have the high-level esteemed guest in our midst, let me 
just direct our question to our bilateral affairs, and that is, what we 
need above all for Russia is an absolutely nondiscriminatory access to 
world markets and to U.S. markets. And we don't need preferences; we 
don't need subsidies; we don't need special favors. We just want normal, 
simple, ordinary, fair trade relations.
    President Bush. The role of Government is not to create wealth. The 
role of Government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneur 
or small business or dreamer can flourish. And that starts with rule of 
law, respect of private property, less regulatory burdens on the 
entrepreneur, open banking laws so that all people have access to 
capital, and good tax policy.
    Private ownership in Russia is a little more than 70 percent. That's 
a significant change. More and more people are owning small business. 
That's incredibly important, because that phenomenon makes sure that the 
elites don't control the economy.
    There's one piece of good news about Russian taxation, and one that 
I learned about yesterday, which Vladimir and 
I haven't had much time to talk about, that's

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troubling. The good news is that the flat tax in Russia is a good, fair 
tax--much more fair, by the way, than many Western countries, I might 
add.
    I am worried when I heard that some Russian goods--there is an 
export tax on Russian goods. And the trouble with that, of course, is 
that no matter how good your goods are, if you price yourself out of the 
market, no one is going to buy. So that's a barrier. There's also 
barriers coming from Western countries that we've got to eliminate. 
Export controls on high-tech goods are problematic, that we're now 
reviewing in the United States.
    And very briefly, it is very important for the infrastructure to be 
modernized as quickly as possible, so that information from around the 
world moves quickly, freely throughout Russia, so that an entrepreneur 
such as yourself are able to learn from other entrepreneurs being 
connected through the Internet, which is going to be a great source of 
ideas and potential wealth for Russia.
    Okay.

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Q. [Inaudible]--from the Foreign Affairs Department, and the 
question is addressed to President Bush: What is the image of--
[inaudible]--that exists in the United States setup, and how this image 
of--[inaudible]--influences----
    Audience member. Image of Russia.
    Audience member. Image of Russians.
    President Bush. Image of Russia in the United States?
    Q. ----what image of Russia--Russians exists in the American 
political setup, and how this image of the Russians influences the 
taking of decisions in the area of American foreign politics?
    President Putin. This guy is very tricky; 
he's a very tricky young fellow. Mr. President, he's going to listen to 
your answer, write a dissertation, and get a degree. [Laughter]
    President Bush. Most Americans--by far, the vast majority of 
Americans are very pleased by the fact that the United States and Russia 
is entering into a new era. We've got a new war to fight together. We're 
joined to fight against bloodthirsty killers. These people hate freedom. 
They hate multiethnic societies. They can't stand religion. And it's a 
threat to America, and this is a threat to Russia, as you all so well 
know. In this country you've been hit by terrorist acts like we have 
been hit by terrorist acts.
    The American people truly appreciate the cooperative spirit of the 
Russian Government and truly appreciate the sympathies of the Russian 
people for what took place on September the 11th.
    It's an interesting question about leadership. Does a leader lead, 
or does a leader follow? Does a leader lead opinion, or does a leader 
try to chase public opinion? My view is, the leader leads. And my 
administration, along with Secretary of State Powell and National Security Adviser Rice, are going to do everything we possibly can do to 
make relations with Russia strong and friendly and cooperative and 
productive for both people.
    Good foreign policy--good foreign policy sets a foundation that is 
so firm that it won't crack if one nation or the other gets weak in the 
commitment to friendship. And we're laying a strong foundation.
    President Putin. I have to say that we 
have political leaders, we have public leaders, we have journalists. Our 
journalists and people who are specialized in the ministry, for 
instance, of international relations and foreign affairs and other 
specialists, in many other departments and agencies, confirm what 
President Bush has just said.
    President Bush. Yes, ma'am. Sorry.
    Q. The student of the Management Department, and the question is 
addressed to President Putin: Our countries have lived through quite 
different relations. While in the Second World War we had one type

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of relations, relations very close and friendly; and then the cold war 
came. And my question is, as a result of this evolution of 
relationships, what is the state of our relationship between these two 
countries now?
    President Putin. You're studying 
management, right? Are there any people from the History Department? And 
I think the people from the History Department will probably support me 
in saying--in my saying the following: The World War II period and the 
cold war period were but two of the most contrasting and sharpest 
examples of the evolution of our relations. But we can talk about a lot 
of different episodes in our cooperation.
    But it really began in the times of the Revolutionary War in the 
United States. At that time, the Crown of England appealed to Catherine 
the Great and asked for support in quelling the rebellion in the United 
States. And the Russian sovereign turned and said, that's not what we're 
all about, and declared a military neutrality vis-a-vis the war. And 
this neutrality played a significant role in the--allowing the United 
States to gain its independence and gain its foundation.
    And today I'm going to present to President George Bush two very 
interesting documents, two original documents having to do with the 
earliest days of our diplomatic correspondence between our two 
countries.
    The world was changing over time; our relations were changing over 
time. Today, for instance, the United States is our number one trading 
partner for Russia, both in terms of the number of goods that are traded 
and also in terms of the accumulated investments that we have from the 
United States in Russia. The United States is a great and powerful power 
and has an economy that is powerful enough to a great extent to 
determine world economics.
    For decades, we voluntarily, on our own, created walls and barriers 
around ourselves and decided to live alone within these walls. And in a 
time when high technology is absolutely mandatory to the beneficial 
development of any country, this circumstance today is just 
unforgivable. And today, in the realms of national security, 
international security, economics, trade, we now are beginning to blend 
in together with the world economy at large.
    You can call our relations today a multi-component kind of a 
relationship depending on many, many different aspects. But I want to 
name the one and most important aspect. Over the last year and a half or 
2 years, what we've experienced is a huge growth in confidence and trust 
manifested between our two countries. And it is precisely this 
distinguishing characteristic which colors our relationship.
    If you're sitting next to the First Lady of the United States, I 
can't say you can't have a question. [Laughter]

Leadership

    Q. The lady is from the Management Department, and she addresses her 
question to both of you gentlemen: To make up a manager, many factors 
are involved. What were those factors that shaped you as leaders, as 
managers?
    President Bush. I understand a leader can't do everything. And so, 
therefore, a leader must be willing to surround himself, in my case, 
with smart, capable, honorable people. A leader must be willing to 
listen, and then a leader must be decisive enough to make a decision and 
stick by it.
    In politics, in order to lead, you've got to know what you believe. 
You have to stand on principle. You have to believe in certain values, 
and you must defend them at all costs. A politician who takes a poll to 
figure out what to believe is a politician who is constantly going to be 
trying to lead through--it's like a dog chasing its tail.
    And finally, any leader must--in order to lead, must understand, 
must have a vision about where you're going. You must set clear goals 
and convince people of those goals and constantly lead toward those 
goals.

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    And finally, you've got to treat people with respect on your team. 
And by respecting people, they become--they become better members of the 
team and, therefore, give better advice and work toward the same goal.
    President Putin. To be successful in any 
kind of business, in any kind of enterprise, you have to have two 
qualities: You have to have a sense of responsibility, and you have to 
have a sense of love.
    Unfortunately, we have to come to an end here. Somebody is going to 
start crying back there if they don't get a question.

Russia and the World Trade Organization

[At this point, the questioner spoke in Russian, and a translation was 
not immediately provided.]

    President Putin. I did the right thing by 
giving the question to her; she's asking President Bush instead. 
[Laughter]

[At this point, the questioner spoke in Russian, and a translation was 
not immediately provided.]

    President Putin. Great question, WTO.
    Q. The question is for President Bush from--[inaudible]--from the 
Department of International Relations: What specific and concrete steps 
can we expect from the United States in order to support our accession 
to the World Trade Organization?
    President Bush. Starting with having a President who thinks you 
ought to be in the WTO--and I think you ought to be. And I think the 
accession to the WTO ought to be based upon the rules that every other 
nation has had to live up to, nothing harsher, nothing less harsh.
    And I've told Vladimir in private and 
I've told the American people, I'm for Russia going into the WTO, just 
like I've asked--just like I asked Congress yesterday once in a press 
conference in Russia to get rid of Jackson-Vanik.
    So, to answer your questions, I vote aye, assuming that the 
President--the Russian Government continues to reform her economy, open 
it up, make market-based economy work. And that's exactly what the 
intentions of this President--that's the intention of this 
President.
    President Putin. George said it very 
well. The President of Russia has to want to be a member of the WTO. And 
he said that he's for it. If that's sufficient, I'm in. [Laughter] But 
on conditions acceptable to Russia. [Laughter]
    Dear friends, I want to thank you. I would like to thank you for the 
warm and friendly atmosphere in which we were, and it is of great 
importance for me personally, because indeed I want very much our dear 
guests to enjoy my native city. And although, of course, our movements 
create some hurdles for the movement of other people in the streets of 
Moscow, but, as George pointed out, the people are not very cross with 
us, since they wave their hands at us and smile at us. [Laughter] And 
today we had a friendly and kind atmosphere here, and the questions were 
in that spirit. And I am grateful to you for that.
    And as I promised, I would like to hand over to President Bush the 
copies of the first diplomatic documents. And these documents actually 
initiated--they started the diplomatic letters exchanged between our two 
countries, and they date back to 1780.
    President Bush. Thank you all very much.

Note: The remarks began at 3:17 p.m. in the school's Ceremonial Hall. 
President Putin spoke in Russian, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter. President Putin referred to Anatoly Sobchak, former mayor 
of St. Petersburg, Russia; and Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, director, State 
Hermitage Museum. President Bush referred to Ludmila Alekseyevna 
Verbitskaya, rector, St. Petersburg State University; and President 
Putin's wife, Lyudmila. President Bush also referred to the Jackson-
Vanik Amendment, which places restrictions on normalized trade relations 
between the U.S. and Russia and other countries of the former Soviet 
Union based

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on their economic structure and emigration policies. A portion of these 
remarks could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.