[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 22 (Monday, June 4, 2007)]
[Pages 725-727]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Interview With Eberhard Piltz of Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Germany

May 31, 2007

U.S.-EU Cooperation on the Environment/Upcoming G-8 Summit

    Mr. Piltz. Mr. President, the German Presidency of the G-8 has put 
the focus for the next meeting on climate change and what to do about 
it. Europeans want fixed caps. You have been opposed to that all the 
time. Now you announced a new proposal. Have you changed your position?
    The President. First, let me, if I might--I think that my friend 
Angela Merkel, for whom I have great respect, wants to discuss a lot of 
matters, whether it be HIV/AIDS or malaria or hunger, depravation, as 
well as climate change. And I'm looking forward to it. I really am. I've 
been to this beautiful part of Germany before. It's a beautiful part of 
your country.
    No, I've always taken the issue seriously. I've told the American 
people and those who are willing to listen that I take climate change 
seriously. And today I talked about a post-

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Kyoto framework in which the world can discuss this issue in a serious 
fashion.
    Angela was concerned at one time whether or not I'd be willing to 
accept a post-Kyoto framework, and today I expressed my keen desire to 
work with her and other leaders on such a framework. And I also 
suggested that a good first step toward achieving serious 
accomplishments would be to have the major emitters gather and set a 
goal, an international goal by the end of 2008. And I'm very serious 
about that. I'm looking forward to working with G-8 partners and others.
    I think one of the breakthroughs that I hope we can achieve in 
Germany at this 
G-8 is to get India and China as participants in setting an 
international goal. And what that goal is, that will determined as a 
result of these meetings. But Angela should be proud of leading the 
international community toward these kind of breakthroughs.
    Mr. Piltz. Though this is the beginning of a process, at the end of 
which there could be fixed goals?
    The President. There would be a goal, absolutely. And that would be 
determined by the major emitters, the major greenhouse gas emitters. 
Generally, sometimes people--some sit around the table and come up with 
what they think is the best solution. My view is, is that they need to 
get the United States, China, India, the EU, Russia, other countries as 
well around the table and say, okay, we agree on a goal. And each nation 
needs to come up with a way to achieve that goal.
    And listen, the truth of the matter is, the best way to achieve, in 
our case, a couple of national objectives--energy security and economic 
security, as well as being good stewards of the environment--is a strong 
push for technologies. And I'll bring a very good record to the G-8. 
We've spent a lot of money here in the United States on developing clean 
technologies. We're driving a lot of our automobiles now with corn-based 
ethanol. That gets us off of oil, which is good for economic and 
national security, and it helps with the environment.

Missile Defense System

    Mr. Piltz. Missile defense, sir--the harsh Russian reaction on U.S. 
plans on missile defense signals some sort of deterioration in 
relations. Are we headed back to colder times?
    The President. Yes, that's a really good question. I certainly hope 
not. Our message to--and my personal message to Vladimir Putin is, 
there's no need to try to relive the cold war. It's over. And we don't 
view Russia as an enemy. We view Russia as an opportunity to work 
together. We don't agree with every decision Russia has made. She 
doesn't agree with every decision I have made. But I have worked hard to 
make sure that we can find common ground on issues like proliferation 
and dealing with Islamic radicals and Iran or North Korea.
    You know, Vladimir Putin has spoken out very strongly on missile 
defense. And so, frankly, it--I visit with Angela quite often, and one 
of the things she talked to me about, is there not a way to open a 
dialog with President Putin on missile defense? So I sent Bob Gates, our 
Secretary of Defense, there, and my message to Vladimir Putin--and it 
will be when I see him at the G-8 in Germany as well as here in the 
States--is, you don't have anything to fear. As a matter of fact, this 
system is aimed at protecting NATO allies, and if you want to 
participate, we would like you to participate with us. We'll be totally 
transparent in the technologies that we're deploying. We want you to 
come and inspect our sites. We want you to talk to our military. We want 
to be wide open, because this system is not geared toward Russia. It's 
geared toward a rogue state that may be able to acquire a nuclear 
weapon.

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Piltz. You mentioned Angela Merkel's role. Is there a role for 
Germany in this difficult dialog, as a bridgebuilder or something like 
that?
    The President. Well, it sounds like to me, Angela has had some 
pretty difficult dialogs herself as the leader of the EU. And I think 
the key thing is for Angela and me to work closely together to have a--
when we can in dealing with Russia. But each nation has to deal with 
Russia in her own terms. I don't need any help dealing with Vladimir 
Putin, and he doesn't need any help dealing with me. We're sovereign 
nations; we have our positions.

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    One of the things that I have worked hard to do is to--and received 
some criticism here in the States--is, I've worked hard to have a 
personal relationship with Vladimir Putin so that when I discuss things 
with him, I can find areas of agreement, but I've also got a 
relationship such that I can bring up areas of concern without rupturing 
relations. And it's--you know, some have suggested, well, there's no 
need to have relations with Russia. Well, I strongly disagree with that. 
I think it's important for the U.S. and Russia to have relations.

War on Terror

    Mr. Piltz. Sir, how satisfied are you with international burden-
sharing in the war on terror?
    The President. Good; it's good. As a matter of fact, the coalitions 
are much bigger than anybody could have envisioned. You know, one of my 
concerns, however, is that, just in general, people don't take the 
threat seriously. In other words, they say, ``Well, there haven't been 
many attacks; there's been a few attacks; but we shouldn't be that 
worried about it.'' I'm deeply worried about it, and I really strongly 
believe the free world ought to be worried about radicals and extremists 
who will kill in the name of an ideology.
    See, I view this as an ideological conflict between people who are 
willing to murder and want to spread their vision, and those of us who 
believe in liberty and the universality of liberty. And so my main worry 
is complacency over the long run. I am pleased with the cooperation at 
this point in time. We've got great relations with Germany. Obviously, 
if we know of a plot that may be taking place in Germany, we will share 
information on an instant basis, and vice versa. And that ought to be 
comforting to the German citizens.

Germany-U.S. Relations

    Mr. Piltz. That was my next question, the state of the relationship 
between America and Germany. Are we back to, as your father put it, 
``partners in leadership''?
    The President. I think we are. First of all, I had a decent 
relationship with Gerhard Schroeder. I never bore any--look, there was a 
difference on Iraq, obviously; it was a clear difference on Iraq. But 
that didn't cause me to say, well, Germany isn't worthy as a worthy 
ally. Quite the contrary, I felt Germany always was a worthy ally and an 
important ally for the United States and an important player in Europe.
    Angela Merkel comes at a different time in our relationship. She's a 
woman who I--for whom I've got great admiration. I don't know if you 
know this or not, but she and I, we speak by secure video on a regular 
basis. And that's what strategic partners do, and our discussions are 
important discussions. She understands the issues very well. She's the 
kind of person that can get a fellow to talk freely and candidly, and 
she speaks the same way to me. And I admire her a lot. I would say our 
relations are vital, and they're strong right now. And that's the way I 
intend to keep it.
    Mr. Piltz. Thank you very much, sir.
    The President. Glad to have you. Looking forward to coming to your 
great country again.
    Mr. Piltz. I'll be there too.
    The President. Yes, sir. [Laughter]

Note: The interview was taped at 3:27 p.m. in the Map Room at the White 
House for later broadcast. In his remarks, the President referred to 
Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of 
Germany; and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. The transcript was 
released by the Office of the Press Secretary on June 1. A portion of 
this interview could not be verified because the tape was incomplete.