[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
[February 24, 2005]
[Pages 312-318]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Bratislava
February 24, 2005

    President Bush. Thank you all. I've just had a very important and 
constructive dialog with my friend. It's great to see--I know 
Laura was pleased to see Lyudmila Putin as well. We have had, over the past 4 years, very 
constructive relations, and that's the way I'm going to keep it for the 
next 4 years as well.
    We've had an open and candid exchange of views and positions. In our 
meeting earlier, I said, ``Vladimir, when we get in here, I think people 
are going to be very interested in this press conference for some 
reason; I'm not sure why.'' Perhaps it's because you're a leader of a 
great nation, and I'm fortunate enough to be one too. But you can see 
we've drawn quite a crowd here. So I'm looking forward to answering 
their questions.
    We produced a lot of positive results at this meeting. We agreed to 
accelerate our work to protect nuclear weapons and material, both in our 
two nations and around the world, and I want to thank you for that. And 
I want to thank our Defense Ministers for working on that issue as well. 
Minister Ivanov is here. He and Secretary 
Rumsfeld have had a very constructive 
relationship. Our mil-to-mil exchanges are very positive, and I 
appreciate that. You and I talked about that a couple of years ago. I 
think they're coming to fruition, which is a very important way to make 
sure we understand each other better.
    We agreed upon new efforts to fight the war on terror, to combat 
MANPADS and improvised explosive devices, and I want to thank you for 
that. Vladimir has been a--ever since the--September the 11th, he has 
clearly understood the stakes that we face. And every time we meet, he 
is--we have an interesting and constructive strategy session about how 
to continue to protect our peoples from attack. He is--he has confronted 
some serious attacks in his country. I know what that means as a fellow 
leader. I know the strain; I know the agony; I know the sadness; I know 
the emotion that comes with seeing innocent people lose their lives, and 
we have shared that. I hope we never have to share it again, that common 
situation.
    We agreed that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon. And I 
appreciate Vladimir's understanding on that issue. We had a very 
constructive dialog about how to achieve that common goal. We agreed 
that North Korea should not have a nuclear weapon. And again, this is an 
area where we're working closely together as two nations of the five 
nations that are involved with North Korea.
    We agreed to accelerate negotiations for Russia's entry into the 
WTO. I stated that the other day in Brussels. We talked about ways to 
make--to move this process forward. We agreed to cooperate in the field 
of energy. I told Vladimir that Secretary Bodman would be our main representative on this issue, and I look 
forward to constructive dialog--hearing about constructive dialog on 
energy.
    We agreed to work together to find peace in the Middle East. 
Russia's a part of the Quartet, and they played a constructive role in 
establishing the roadmap. And now we look forward to working together to 
achieve peace.
    This meeting also gave me an opportunity to share my belief that 
it's in my country's interest that Russia be a strong and viable partner 
with the United States. It's very important that we establish not only a 
working relationship but that we understand that in the 21st century, 
strong countries are built by developing strong democracies. And so we 
talked about democracy. Democracies always reflect a country's

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customs and culture, and I know that. Yet democracies have certain 
things in common: They have a rule of law and protection of minorities, 
a free press and a viable political opposition.
    Russia has made tremendous progress over the last 15 years. It's an 
amazing transformation of the nation. And I applaud President Putin for 
dealing with a country that is in transformation. And it's been hard 
work. I was able to share my concerns about Russia's commitment in 
fulfilling these universal principles. I did so in a constructive and 
friendly way. I reaffirmed my belief that if--that it is democracy and 
freedom that bring true security and prosperity in every land.
    We may not always agree with each other, and we haven't over the 
last 4 years, that's for certain. But we have found a lot agreement--a 
lot of common ground, and the world is better for it. Even though we 
didn't agree on certain issues, if you really think about what we have 
done the last 4 years, and what we want to do during the next 4 years, 
the common ground is a lot more than those areas where we disagree. And 
by working together, this world will be a safer, freer, and more 
prosperous place.
    Mr. President, it's great to see you again. Thank you.
    President Putin. First of all, I would like to say that my meeting 
with the President of the United States has been a friendly one, has 
taken place in a very trustful atmosphere. This has been a dialog of 
interested partners, which became clear right away.
    In the course of our meeting, starting from the first minutes of our 
dialog, we had a substantive discussion of the entire international 
agenda. The President has mentioned the key items in our dialog. We 
share a position on the status of the Russia-U.S. relationship. It is 
true that over the past few years, through joint efforts, we have been 
able to accumulate a unique--[inaudible]--cooperation. We are engaged in 
a constructive political dialog, and we are discovering new 
opportunities for joint business, cultural, and scientific initiatives.
    It is obvious that Russia and the U.S. share long-term interests, 
genuine strategic goals, and certainly a great degree of responsibility 
before our own people and people of other countries. We talked about 
international security. This reality is not affected by the 
circumstances of the moment or the consolidation of political interests. 
Therefore, we can see no alternative to the consistent strengthening of 
the Russia-U.S. relationship.
    In the course of this summit, we have agreed upon specific 
guidelines that will navigate us through the process of cooperation in 
the forthcoming 3 years. This has to do primarily with addressing the 
threats and challenges of today--first and foremost, fighting terrorism. 
We have agreed to better coordinate our efforts on these fronts, 
including through the Russia-U.S. working group on counterterrorism, 
which has existed 5 years. Among the highlighted priorities have been 
the neutralization of the systems of financing and recruiting of 
terrorists and work on identifying terrorist cells, et cetera.
    We are ready to jointly work on the pressing problem of stemming the 
illicit trade in MANPADS. Our colleagues today agreed upon this in very 
concrete terms. I'd like to note that on the sidelines of this summit, 
the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergey Ivanov, and Secretary of State 
Condoleezza Rice signed a Russian-U.S. 
arrangement on cooperation in enhancing control over MANPADS. It is 
important to neutralize the attempts to proliferate weapons of mass 
destruction.
    We talked a lot about nonproliferation. We talked a lot about the 
situation in Iran, about the situation in Iran--North Korea, and we 
share a common opinion in this regard, and we are taking a similar 
approach. We should put an end to the proliferation of missiles and 
missile technology. The proliferation of such weapons is not

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in the interest of specific countries or the international community in 
general.
    We have also exchanged our views on the situation in Iraq, in the 
Middle East. Russia and the U.S. have at their disposal some solid 
opportunities for normalizing the situations in places where regional 
crises take place. We intend to actually use this potential.
    We have paid great attention to economic cooperation including, as 
has already been said, the possible accession of Russia to the WTO. We 
have reaffirmed our intention to continue our search for mutually 
acceptable solutions of the outstanding problems. Russia is ready for a 
reasonable compromise, but this compromise should not go beyond the 
usual responsibilities assumed by countries acceding to the WTO. In the 
presence of the press, I would like to thank the President of the United 
States for the serious message that our negotiators noticed in the 
course of negotiations, a message aimed at resolving all the problems 
that stand in the way of Russia's accession to the WTO. I'm sure that 
not only Russian economy but also the U.S. economy are interested in the 
positive outcome.
    We have also discussed the issues relating to Russia-U.S. energy 
dialog. We've had some progress in this area, some good progress. We're 
going to continue this dialog. Some issues have been positively resolved 
in terms of expanding the operation of U.S. companies in Russian energy 
market. ConocoPhillips, as you know, has bought a stake in Lukoil, one 
of the major Russian oil companies. It bought a stake that used to 
belong to the Russian state. This happened recently, and I'm confident 
that this will be a success story both for Russian and U.S. partners. 
Another important and interesting opportunity is our cooperation in the 
supplies of liquefied natural gas. In the year 2010, 2011, a large 
amount of liquefied natural gas can be supplied from Russia to the 
United States.
    Our investment cooperation is becoming generally bilateral. The 
first steps, but confident steps, are being made by Russian companies 
that are starting to invest their capital into American economy.
    We have also discussed the status and prospects of Russia's 
cooperation in science, high-tech, in particular, in the exploration of 
outer space.
    In conclusion, I would like to say that I highly appreciate the 
outcome of this summit. Later this year, we are going to meet a few more 
times within the framework of various international fora. I would like 
to take this opportunity to thank the President of the United States, 
who has accepted the invitation to participate in the festivities on the 
occasion of the anniversary of the great victory in May--on May 9th in 
Moscow. This is a natural manifestation of respect of historic memory 
and the memory of the alliance that bonded our two countries in the 
years of the Second World War.
    Thank you.

Russia-U.S. Relations/Democracy

    Q. Mr. President, 4 years ago when you first met with President 
Putin, at a time some in the world were questioning his commitment to 
democracy, you reassured a lot of those critics by saying that you had 
looked into his soul and saw a man that you found trustworthy. You've 
just listed some concerns here today. I'm wondering if you could 
unequivocally and without reservation repeat that statement today?
    And Mr. Putin, I'd like to ask you to address critics in the United 
States and elsewhere who saw Mr. Gorbachev and Mr. Yeltsin as taking 
early steps on the path to democracy and worry that you have reversed 
course.
    President Bush. One thing I--that gave me comfort in making the 
statement I made in Slovenia was that Vladimir said, ``When I agree with 
you, I'll agree with--I'll tell you, and when I disagree with you, I'll 
tell you.'' In other words, we'll have a very frank and candid and open 
relationship. And that's the way it's been. There

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was no doubt in my mind what his position was on Iraq. He didn't kind of 
hedge. He didn't try to cloud up the issue. He made it abundantly clear 
to me that he didn't agree with my decision. And that's an important 
part of having a trustworthy relationship, a relationship where, when a 
person tells you something, you know he means what he says and yes means 
yes and no means no. Sometimes in politics, yes means ``maybe'' and no 
means ``if.'' This is the kind of fellow who, when he says yes, he means 
yes, and when he says no, he means no.
    And we had a discussion about some decisions he's made. He's had 
some interest in the decisions I've made. And that's a very important 
dialog. And as I said--I'll say it again--I think it's very important 
that all nations understand the great values inherent in democracy, rule 
of law and protection of minorities, viable political debate. And when I 
brought that--I don't want to put words in--Vladimir can speak for 
himself on this issue, but all I can tell you is he said--yes meant yes, 
when we talked about values that we share.
    President Putin. First of all, I would like to say that we discussed 
these issues at length, face to face, just the two of us. Russia has 
made its choice in favor of democracy. Fourteen years ago, 
independently, without any pressure from outside, it made that decision 
in the interests of itself and interests of its people, of its citizens. 
This is our final choice, and we have no way back. There can be no 
return to what we used to have before. And the guarantee for this is the 
choice of the Russian people themselves; no, guarantees from outside 
cannot be provided. This is impossible. It would be impossible for 
Russia today. Any kind of turn towards totalitarianism for Russia would 
be impossible, due to the condition of the Russian society.
    As far as the questions that are being discussed among our partners 
in the media, I can only repeat what has been said by the President of 
the United States. First, we are not going to make up, to invent any 
kind of special Russian democracy. We are going to remain committed to 
the fundamental principles of democracy that have been established in 
the world. But of course, all the modern institutions of democracy--the 
principles of democracy should be adequate to the current status of the 
development of Russia, to our history, and our traditions.
    There is nothing unusual here, either. In every country, these 
overall principles are embodied in this or that way. In electoral law, 
we can compare the United States and a number of European countries. In 
the operation of major democratic institutions, there may be some 
differences, but the main, fundamental principles are going to be 
implemented in the form in which they have been developed by the modern, 
civilized society.
    As far as the preceding period in our development, no doubt the 
credit that can be given to that period in the development of the 
Russian Federation for the fact that the previous generation of 
politicians, despite all the difficulties that have arisen due to 
changes in Russia, they have given the main thing to the Russian 
people--that is, freedom.
    But I believe that a lot of people will agree with me, the 
implementation of the principles and norms of democracy should not be 
accompanied by the collapse of the state and the impoverishment of the 
people. We believe and I personally believe that the implementation and 
the strengthening of democracy on the Russian soil should not jeopardize 
the concept of democracy. It should strengthen statehood, and it should 
improve living standards for the people. It is in this direction that 
we're going to act.
    Q. First of all, I wanted to ask another question, but we have an 
interesting conversation now. Therefore I'm going to ask about the 
following: It seems to me that you have nothing to disagree about. The 
regimes that are in place in Russia and

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the U.S. cannot be considered fuller democratic, especially when 
compared to some other countries of Europe, for example--for example, 
the Netherlands. It seems to me that as far as Russia is concerned--
[inaudible]--everything is clear, more or less. But as far as the U.S. 
is concerned, we could probably talk at length. I am referring to the 
great powers that have been assumed by the security services, due to 
which the private lives of citizens are now being monitored by the 
state. This could be explained away by the consequences of September 
11th, but this has nothing to do with democratic values. How could you 
comment on this? I suggest that you can probably agree--that you can 
probably shake hands and continue to be friends in future.
    President Bush. I live in a transparent country. I live in a country 
where decisions made by Government are wide open, and people are able to 
call people to--me to account, which many out here do on a regular 
basis. Our laws and the reasons why we have laws on the books are 
perfectly explained to people. Every decision we have made is within the 
Constitution of the United States. We have a Constitution that we 
uphold. And if there is a question as to whether or not a law meets that 
Constitution, we have an independent court system through which that law 
is reviewed.
    So I'm perfectly comfortable in telling you, our country is one that 
safeguards human rights and human dignity, and we resolve our disputes 
in a peaceful way.
    President Putin. I would like to support my American counterpart. 
I'm absolutely confident that democracy is not anarchy. It is not the 
possibility to do anything you want. It is not the possibility for 
anyone to rob your own people. Democracy is, among other things, and 
first and foremost, the possibility to democratically make democratic 
laws and the capability of the state to enforce those laws.
    You have cited a curious example, the Netherlands. The Netherlands 
is a monarchy, after all. I have no doubts about the democratic nature 
of that country. That is certainly a democratic nation, but this is very 
different from the United States and Russia.
    There are great differences between Russia and the U.S. as well. If 
we talk about where we have more or where we have less democracy, is not 
the right thing to do. But if we talk about how the fundamental 
principles of democracy are implemented in this or that historic soil, 
in this or that country, is an option; it's possible. This does not 
compromise the dignity of the Netherlands or Russia or the U.S.
    Q. [Inaudible]--on some of the decisions he has made on his 
democratic institutions, or have you just agreed to disagree? And, 
President Putin, did anything President Bush said to you today prompt 
you to reconsider some of those decisions?
    President Bush. I think the most important statement that you heard 
and I heard was the President's statement, when he declared his absolute 
support for democracy in Russia, and they're not turning back. To me, 
that is the most important statement of my private meeting, and it's the 
most important statement of this public press conference. And I can tell 
you what it's like dealing with the man over the last 4 years: When he 
tells you something, he means it.
    He asked what some of my concerns were, and he explained answers. I 
told him that it was very important that capital see rule of law, that 
there be stability, there not be any doubt about whether or not--if 
somebody invests, whether or not the laws change. And I think Vladimir 
heard me loud and clear, and he explained why he made decisions he made.
    But we had very frank discussions about a variety of issues. And the 
operative--again, the operative statement, the summary statement that I 
think is important for people to hear in our countries, precisely his 
opening statement to King's [John King, Cable News Network] question--

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speaking about monarchies. Anyway--get it? [Laughter] It's late in the 
trip. [Laughter] Which is, firm belief in democracy. And I appreciate 
that.
    President Putin. I have already mentioned that we have paid a lot of 
attention to these issues. I get the impression that sometimes the 
public in the now partner countries do not have the full knowledge and, 
consequently, do not have the full understanding of what is taking place 
in the Russian Federation. Naturally, within our countries, there are 
people who are in favor and there are those who are opposed to the 
decisions that are being made--for example, the decision on the new 
procedure for the election of regional leaders in the Russian 
Federation.
    But those who are opposed are richer than those who are in favor. 
They have the opportunity to spread their opinion in the media, and we 
often do not pay the attention to that. I'd like to draw your attention 
to the fact that the leaders of the regions of the Russian Federation 
will not be appointed by the President. Their canvasses will be 
presented, will be submitted to regional parliaments that are elected 
through secret ballot by all the citizens. This is, in essence, a system 
of the electoral college, which is used, on the national level, in the 
United States, and it is not considered undemocratic, is it?
    We discussed these issues at length and some of the ideas--I 
wouldn't say ``advice''--but some of the ideas that I heard from my 
partner, who I respect a lot. And I believe that some of his ideas could 
be taken into account in my work, and I will pay due attention to them, 
that's for sure. Some other ideas, I will not comment on. Thank you.

Freedom of the Press

    Q. To follow up on the issue of democratic institutions, President 
Bush recently stated that the press in Russia is not free. What is this 
lack of freedom all about? Your aides probably mentioned to you that our 
media, both electronic and our printed media, print full coverage of the 
manifestations and protests in our country. Our regional and national 
media often criticize the Government institution. What about you? Why 
don't you talk a lot about violations of the rights of journalists in 
the United States, about the fact that some journalists have been fired? 
Or do you prefer to discuss this in private with your American 
colleague?
    President Bush. I don't know what journalists you're referring to. 
Any of you all still have your jobs? No, I--look, I think it's important 
any viable democracy has got a free and active press. Obviously, if 
you're a member of the Russian press, you feel like the press is free. 
And that's--feel that way? Well, that's good. [Laughter] But I talked to 
Vladimir about that. And he wanted to know about our press. I said, nice 
bunch of folks. And he wanted to know about, as you mentioned, the 
subject of somebody getting fired. People do get fired in American 
press. They don't get fired by Government, however. They get fired by 
their editors, or they get fired by their producers, or they get fired 
by the owners of a particular outlet or network.
    But a free press is important. And it is an important part of any 
democracy. And if you're a member of the press corps and you feel 
comfortable with the press in Russia, I think that is a pretty 
interesting observation for those of us who don't live in Russia to 
listen to.
    But no question, whether it be in America or anywhere else, the sign 
of a healthy and vibrant society is one in where there's an active press 
corps. Obviously, there has got to be constraints. There's got to be 
truth. People have got to tell the truth, and if somebody violates the 
truth, then those who own a particular newspaper or those who are in 
charge of particular electronic station need to hold people to account. 
The press--the capacity of the press to hold people to account also 
depends on their willingness to self-examine at times

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when they're wrong. And that happens on occasion in America. And that's 
an important part of maintaining a proper relationship between 
Government and press. I can assure you that the folks here are 
constantly trying to hold me to account for decisions I make and how I 
make decisions. I'm comfortable with that. It's part of the checks and 
balances of a democracy.
    And so I'm glad to hear your editorial comment, so to speak, on your 
comfort with the situation of the press corps in the Federation of 
Russia.
    President Putin. First of all, what do you mean when you say I keep 
silent--or we keep silent about this or that problem? First of all, I'm 
not the minister of propaganda. Second, we discuss all issues in 
absolute openness. As George said, today we discussed this issue, as 
well, with regard to Russia and the United States. But what is 
absolutely obvious is that in the United States there are a lot of 
mechanisms to uphold the freedom of the press. And as far as the fact 
that there is some kind of friction between the media and the 
Government, there is an ongoing debate, an ongoing critical debate, 
going on. There is a lot of criticism coming from the media with respect 
to the Government. This is an manifestation of democracy. What you 
mentioned about the comments in the media of the actions of the Russian 
Government is testimony to the fact that we do have freedom of the 
press. Although we're being criticized often of that, this is not the 
case.
    When we discuss these issues absolutely frankly, we, and I, in 
particular, do not think that this has to be pushed to the foreground, 
that new problems should be created from nothing. And I do not think 
that we should jeopardize the Russian-American relationship, because 
we're interested in the development of this relationship. We are paying 
close attention to all the comments of the press or opposing forces, but 
our responsibility is to--in spite of all these problems, of which there 
are plenty, our responsibility is to positively develop the Russian-
American relationship.
    I would like to thank the President of the United States for his 
constructive dialog that we've had today. Thank you very much.

Note: The President's news conference began at 5:50 p.m. in Constitution 
Hall at Bratislava Castle. In his remarks, he referred to Lyudmila 
Putina, wife of President Putin. President Putin spoke in Russian, and 
his remarks were translated by an interpreter.