    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [May 29, 2003]
    [Pages 572-573]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 572]]

    Interview With RTR TV of Russia
    May 29, 2003

    Strength of the Dollar

        Q. Let me start with the people's question. In my country, for many
    people, America is associated first and foremost with the U.S. dollar.
    You bring the muscle. What's going on? Is it going to stay as weak as it
    is now? And what's your forecast?
        The President. The policy of my administration is for there to be a
    strong U.S. dollar.
        Q. Which is not at the moment.
        The President. Well, I understand that. And the marketplace is
    making decisions as to whether the dollar should be strong or not. Our
    policy is a strong dollar. And we believe that good fiscal and monetary
    policy will cause our economy to grow and that the marketplace will see
    a growing economy and therefore strengthen the dollar.
        But you're right, the market, at this point in time, has devalued
    the dollar, which is contrary to our policy.
        Q. You're not going to launch a separate dollar for the vendor
    states and a separate dollar internationally, because there was a rumor
    like that. [Laughter]
        The President. No, forget that. No, we're not going to do that.

    Speculation About the War on Terror

        Q. Tell me about rumors. Is there any seriousness behind today's
    press reports that America's next target is Iran and that your Armed
    Forces are going to use bases in the former Soviet republics Azerbaijan
    and Armenia?
        The President. We've had all kinds of reports that we're going to
    use force in Syria. And now some on the left, I guess, are saying force
    in Iran or force here and force there. You know, it's pure speculation.
    And we used force in Iraq after a long, long period of diplomacy.
    Remember, I was a person that went to the United Nations on September
    the 12th in 2002 and said, ``Let's work together.'' And we got a
    resolution out of the United Nations.
        Q. The 1441.
        The President. Fourteen-forty-one. Then we tried to get a second
    resolution, which obviously was a stalemate. We never had a vote. And
    then--but the point was, is that I tried everything we could do
    diplomatically to bring about a common solution in dealing with Saddam
    Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction.
        And so, you know, people love to speculate about U.S. intentions and
    our military. And I'm just telling you it's idle speculation.

    Iraq

        Q. Coming back to the U.S. role, now that the war in Iraq is over,
    there is still a new twist in this discussion about America's role, a
    natural leader or a self-proclaimed leader which enforces its----
        The President. A natural leader.
        Q. Natural leader.
        The President. Emerging in Iraq, you're talking about the leadership
    of Iraq? Yes, the Iraqi people are plenty capable of picking their own
    leadership. There's a lot of work to do to create the conditions
    necessary for a smooth political process.
        And the first thing is to improve the lives of the Iraqi people. I
    mean, make sure they've got food and electricity and water and sewer.
    And in many parts of the country, life is improving. Baghdad is
    difficult. Baghdad--the security is tough in Baghdad because----
        Q. Did you expect anything like that?
        The President. Sure. I mean, this is a country that had been
    enslaved for years by Saddam Hussein. And as
    we're discovering through the mass graves all around the countryside, he
    used torture and killing

    [[Page 573]]

    to stay in power. And therefore, it's not surprising that after--I
    forget how many days we've been there, 70 or 80 days--that democracy
    hasn't sprung forth yet. It's going to take a while to improve
    conditions, and it's going to take a while to take care of the security
    issues within Baghdad. But life is improving, and that's what's
    important.

    President's Upcoming Visit to Russia

        Q. Now that you're going to Russia, last time, I remember, when you
    were planning your first trip you read Dostoyevsky. Now you read
    Dostoyevsky, you've dealt with Mr. Putin, what are your expectations
    now? Are you going to try anything in Russia, in the sense of a new
    political initiative or maybe taste something new?
        The President. Well, I tell you, I think--first of all, I'm looking
    forward to going to St. Petersburg for my third time since I've been the
    President. It's a fantastic city. And Vladimir kindly invited Laura and me
    to go to the 300th anniversary of the city, and we're looking forward to
    it.
        I think the most important thing that will come out the meetings
    with Vladimir Putin is the world will see
    that even though we had some disagreement on Iraq, that we're willing to
    continue to work together for the good of our respective countries as
    well as world peace.
        Secondly, there will be a strategic--a formal strategic dialog
    established not only between Vladimir and me
    but throughout our bureaucracies, our different agencies, so that the
    Russian people and the American people know that we're working in
    concert to work on common opportunities as well as to deal with problems
    before they become acute.

    President's View of Russia

        Q. Now that you've dealt with Putin, read Dostoyevsky, have been to
    St. Petersburg three times, do you think you understand Russia better
    than you did in the past, or what's your notion?
        The President. Well, first of all, Russia is a fantastic country
    with a great history. And I'm learning--I'm understanding the Russian
    mentality a little better. I will certainly not be an expert. I
    fortunately do have experts on my staff, starting with Condoleezza
    Rice, who has lived in Russia, studied
    Russia, understands Russia well.
        My main focus has been to deal with Vladimir Putin, leader to leader, because I firmly believe that if
    we can establish trust between each other, then we can see to it that
    others in our administration begin to trust each other more. And trust
    is an important concept.
        I never forget my first question I was asked, after having met
    Vladimir Putin in Slovenia, was from an
    enterprising U.S. reporter. He said, ``Do you trust Vladimir Putin?''
    And I, without hesitating, said, ``Yes.'' And he said, ``How do you
    know?'' I said, ``I looked in his eyes and saw his soul.''
        We had just come from a very long conversation where we talked about
    family matters and we talked about our own personal lives. And I found
    in Vladimir a very genuine person, somebody with whom I could place my
    trust. And that doesn't mean we agree on every issue; don't get me
    wrong. But it does mean that we have the platform necessary to have
    good, positive relations so we can move our relations throughout our
    Government forward.
        Q. Mr. President, thank you so much, indeed. Have a nice trip to
    Russia.
        The President. I'm looking forward to it.

    Note: The interview was taped at 2:36 p.m. on May 29 in the Library at
    the White House for later broadcast. The transcript was embargoed for
    release by the Office of the Press Secretary until 1:30 p.m. on May 31.
    In his remarks, the President referred to former President Saddam
    Hussein of Iraq and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. A tape was not
    available for verification of the content of this interview.