[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 8 (Monday, February 28, 2005)]
[Pages 289-290]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following Discussions With President Jacques Chirac of France 
and an Exchange With Reporters in Brussels

February 21, 2005

    President Bush. It's my honor to be joining Jacques Chirac for 
dinner. I thank you for coming, sir. I've really been looking forward to 
this moment.
    Every time I meet with Jacques, he's got good advice. And I'm 
looking forward to listening to you. We've got a lot of issues to talk 
about, Middle Eastern peace, Lebanon, Iran, helping to feed the hungry, 
working together to help spread medicines necessary to cure illness.
    So, Mr. President, thank you very much for your--coming back for 
dinner, and thank you for your time.
    President Chirac. Thank you. It's, of course, a great pleasure. It 
always is great pleasure to meet with President Bush. And let me take 
this opportunity to thank him for his very warm welcome to me today as 
always.
    Now, President Bush and I have always shared very--always had very 
warm relations, which in fact translate, to a certain extent, of 
relations--of warm relations that have always been characterized--the 
links between our countries and the relations, be they bilateral or 
transatlantic ones, which have always been excellent between France and 
the United States.
    Indeed, we have struggled for some two centuries, 200 years now, to 
uphold and keep alive these values which we share, and which our people 
share and hold very dear to their hearts, and which we are very attached 
to.
    We are present together, that is to say France and the United 
States, in some of the world's hotspots. I'm thinking of Afghanistan. 
I'm thinking of the Balkans, of course, but I'm thinking also of what 
we're doing in Haiti and in Africa. I'm thinking also of our excellent 
cooperation over the tragedy in Asia, from the tsunami here. And let me 
take this opportunity to thank the President for all the help that was 
extended to our military by the American military, for instance, the 
making available to our military of American helicopters, which made our 
work that much easier.
    So we do share many, many ideals and values. We have many things in 
common. For instance, we, together, are struggling against the scourge 
of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism. And we adopted--we have 
the same approach to the situation which is prevailing in Lebanon, 
especially following the murder of former Prime Minister Hariri, who, of 
course, was a man who enshrined the ideals of democracy, independence, 
and liberty of that country.
    Therefore, I am looking forward to a very constructive discussion, 
and I welcome this new opportunity to meet with the President and in a 
broader context, which is that of the continuing dialog, ongoing dialog 
between the United States and the rest of Europe.
    President Bush. Tom [Tom Raum, Associated Press].

Russia

    Q. For both Presidents: You talked about Russia, Mr. President, in 
your speech. What practical things can you do to pressure Russia to go 
back to a path towards democracy? And should you, for instance, make 
membership in the WTO contingent on Russia renewing its commitment to 
democracy? For both Presidents, please.
    President Bush. Part of the WTO requirements are that there be an 
open market, that there be a liberal economy. And open markets and 
liberal economies tend to attract countries that are open to the voices 
of their people.

[[Page 290]]

    I look forward to seeing Vladimir Putin in 2 days. I've got a good 
relationship with Vladimir; I intend to keep it that way. But as well, I 
intend to remind him that if his interests lie West, that we share 
values, and that we--and those values are important. They're not only 
important for people that live within Russia; they're important to have 
good relations with the West.

France-U.S. Relations

    Q. The first question to President Chirac. You have said, sir, 
yourself, that relations have always been excellent between France and 
the United States. We get the sense that in recent weeks they have 
become even better. They have become warmer and that there's a veritable 
new honeymoon, as it were, taking place.
    And to you, President Bush, may I ask the following question: If, 
indeed, relations have improved, if certainly they are better between 
France and the United States, are they good enough as yet for that to 
warrant an invitation to President Chirac to go to the United States or 
even to your ranch? [Laughter]
    President Bush. I'm looking for a good cowboy. [Laughter]
    President Chirac. Let me say--repeat what I already said, namely, 
that our relations are indeed excellent. But they have been excellent 
for over 200 years now, because--why do I say that? Because they are 
based upon common values, common values that we share. And these things 
don't change overnight, with the wave of a wand.
    Now, of course, that doesn't mean that because we share common 
values we don't--we necessarily agree on everything all the time. Of 
course, we can have our differences, our divergence of opinion. 
Recently, this was the case. We didn't share the same view over Iraq. 
But this in no way affects or in no way undermines the bedrock of our 
relations, namely, our common values and our common vision. And I repeat 
what I said earlier on, namely, that I feel it's so important that 
within the broader context of U.S.-EU relations, this relationship 
should continue to be cemented, broadened, and strengthened.
    President Bush. This is my first dinner, since I've been reelected, 
on European soil, and it's with Jacques Chirac, and that ought to say 
something. It ought to say how important this relationship is for me, 
personally, and how important this relationship is for my country.

Note: The President spoke at 7:13 p.m. in the Ambassador's Residence at 
the U.S. Embassy. In his remarks, he referred to President Vladimir 
Putin of Russia. President Chirac referred to former Prime Minister 
Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon, who was assassinated on February 14 in Beirut. 
President Chirac spoke in French, and his remarks were translated by an 
interpreter. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
these remarks.