    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
    [November 19, 2006]
    [Page 2105]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Hanoi
    November 19, 2006

         President Bush. Today Vladimir and I are pleased to report that
    after a long set of negotiations, Representative Gref and Ambassador Schwab
    have signed agreements that will be good for the United States and good
    for Russia. And that is, we support Russia's accession into the WTO. I
    congratulate you all for your hard work, and thank you very much for the
    hard work.
        I repeat: This is a good agreement for the United States. And
    equally important, it's a good agreement for Russia, and it's a good
    agreement for the international trading community. And I thank you very
    much, Vladimir, for working hard on this agreement.
        As usual, we've had a very important dialog. And we talked about
    common interests and how we can work together to solve some of the
    world's problems, including North Korea and Iran. And I want to thank
    you for your time and friendship.
        President Putin. On my part, I would like to add that we've been in
    the process of difficult and lengthy work, 5 years of intense effort
    which has been culminated today with the signing of a protocol on
    Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, which has been a
    successful outcome of this effort.
        And I would like to underscore that this would not have been
    possible to achieve without expert and professional involvement both on
    the side of the U.S. and Russia, and without good will expressed in
    this--should I say, in the right term would be to use here--very
    businesslike approach in their dealing.
        On top of that, it would not have been possible without a political
    will, which has been here expressed by the President of the United
    States of America. And I agree with you, George, that this lays out very
    favorable conditions to us to jointly tackle the very pertinent and
    acute problems of international relations together.
        It also lays out favorable conditions to further develop the scope
    and volume of commerce and economic interaction between the business
    partners--between our two countries involved with other countries.

    Note: The President spoke at 4:16 p.m. at the Sheraton Hanoi. In his
    remarks, he referred to Minister of Economic Development and Trade
    German Oskarovich Gref of Russia; and Ambassador Susan C. Schwab, U.S.
    Trade Representative. President Putin spoke in Russian, and his remarks
    were translated by an interpreter.