[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Pages 969-970]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With President Dmitry A. Medvedev of Russia 
and an Exchange With Reporters in Toyako

July 7, 2008

    President Bush. I want to thank the President for a good, meaningful 
discussion. It's the first time Dmitry and I met since he has become 
President of his big country, and we had a good discussion. We talked 
about Iran; we talked about a variety of issues. And while there's some 
areas of disagreement, there's also areas where I know we can work 
together for the common good.
    I found him to be a smart guy who understood the issues very well. 
But I'm not surprised; after all, he has been very close to foreign 
policy issues up until his ascendancy to the Presidency. And he reminded 
me of our visit to the White House in 2005, where we discussed foreign 
policy then. And now it's my honor to discuss it face to face as 
Presidents of our respective countries.
    Thank you, sir.
    President Medvedev. Well, indeed, we had this exchange today with 
George concerning various issues at the agenda of our relationship, 
including those of domestic importance, trade and investments, and 
internationally related matters, including those conflicts and crisis 
tendencies in the world. And true that on certain matters, we do have 
differences originating from the previous background and differences are 
there. And on the others, we have absolutely similar positions. But what 
is really important, the dialog is there and there is a commonality of 
the overview on various things between us.
    And the other thing which is also important is that I congratulated 
George on his birthday, which is also a very important thing; 
irrespective of summits out there, irrespective of our will, these dates 
occur in our life.
    President Bush. Everybody has a birthday. Anyway, we'll answer one 
question apiece.
    Deb [Deb Riechmann, Associated Press].

Russia-U.S. Relations/Russian Leadership

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. You're leaving; he's coming. There's 
not much time left. Were you able to make any movement? Was there 
anything that you could accomplish in this thing--on issues like missile 
defense? And also, besides his intellect, what else did you see in the 
new President?
    President Bush. Yes. I reminded him that, yes, I'm leaving, but not 
until 6 months, and I'm sprinting to the finish. So we can get a lot 
done together. And, you know, it's a lot of important issues. There is--
you know, like Iran is an area where Russia and the United States have 
worked closely in the past and will continue to work closely to convince 
the regime to give up its desire to enrich uranium.
    You know, I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the man, but I 
will tell you that he's very comfortable; he's confident, and that I 
believe that when he tells me something, he means it. Sometimes in 
politics people tell you one thing and mean another. My judgment is that 
when he tells you something he means it, and that's going to be good for 
the world leaders to have somebody that you may not agree with what he 
tells you, but at least you know it's what he believes.

Russia-U.S. Relations

    Q. What is your perspective of the further development of U.S.-
Russia relationship?
    President Medvedev. Well, yes, we have discussed these matters on 
the further development of a relationship between our two countries with 
George, and we are positive that they will develop further on. And we 
will build on the relationship with the new American administration. But 
we still have 6 months with the effective administration, and we'll try 
to intensify our dialog with this administration.
    The other thing is that, yes, there are certain questions on our 
agenda where we agree, and these are the matters pertaining to Iran, 
North Korea. But then, certainly, there are others with respect to 
European affairs and this missile defense where we have differences. We 
would like to agree on these matters as well, and we also feel very 
comfortable in our dealings with George.
    President Bush. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
    President Medvedev. Thank you.

[[Page 970]]

Note: The President spoke at 12:32 p.m. at the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort 
and Spa. President Medvedev and a reporter spoke in Russian, and their 
remarks were translated by an interpreter.