|
 USH:
Thank you all. Sit down, please.
Thank you all
for that warm welcome. This is a great day for Central Texas. It's
a great day because Laura and I have had the honor of welcoming
the Putins to our beloved state. It's a great day because it's raining.
It's a great day as well because I just got off the telephone with
two Central Texas women — Heather Mercer, who used to live
in Crawford...
(APPLAUSE)
... and Dayna
Curry. They both said to say thanks to everybody for their prayers.
They realize there is a good and gracious God. Their spirits were
high, and they love America.
(APPLAUSE)
I remember
clearly when I stood up in front of the Congress and said we have
three conditions to the Taliban: one, release those who are being
detained; two, destroy terrorist training camps so that country
can never be used for terror again, either against us or against
Russia, for example; three, bring Al Qaeda to justice.
Yesterday,
I was able to report to the nation that one of those conditions
has been met with the release and rescue of the humanitarian aid
workers.
And make no
mistake about it, the other two will be met, particularly bringing
Al Qaeda to justice.
(APPLAUSE)
I wanted to
bring President Putin to Crawford. I wanted him to see a state that
Laura and I love, particularly wanted to be able to introduce him
to the citizens of Crawford, because this part of the state represents
the independent-minded nature of Texans. It represents the hardworking
Texans, people who have great values, faith and family. The people
here, Mr. President, love their country, and they like countries
that work with America to keep the peace.
(APPLAUSE)
We had a great
dinner last night. We had a little Texas barbecue, pecan pie, a
little Texas music. And I think the president really enjoyed himself.
I told him he was welcome to come back next August...
(LAUGHTER)
... to get
a true taste of Crawford. He said, ``Fine. And maybe you'd like
to go to Siberia in the winter.''
(APPLAUSE)
It's my honor
also to introduce President Putin to Crawford. I bet a lot of folks
here, particularly the older folks, never dreamt that an American
president would be bringing the Russian president to Crawford, Texas.
(LAUGHTER)
A lot of people
never really dreamt that an American president and a Russian president
could have established the friendship that we had. We were enemies
for a long period of time.
When I was
in high school, Russia was an enemy. Now the high school students
can know Russia as a friend, that we're working together to break
the old ties, to establish a new spirit of cooperation and trust
so that we can work together to make the world more peaceful.
Russia has
been a strong partner in the fight against terrorism. There's an
interesting story for me to report: I was on Air Force One the day
of the attack, working my way back to Washington via Louisiana and
Nebraska...
(LAUGHTER)
... making
sure that the president was safe and secure. First phone call I
got from a foreign leader was President Putin. He told us that he
recognized that I had put our troops on alert. I did so because,
for the first time in a long period of time, America was under attack;
only happened once — well, twice, I guess, War of 1812 and
Pearl Harbor.
In the old
days, when America put their troops on attack, Russia would have
responded and put her troops on alert, which would have caused the
American president maybe to put a higher alert, and Russia a higher
alert, and all of a sudden we would have had two conflicts instead
of one.
But not this
president.
This president
recognized we're entering into a new era, and his call was, ``Don't
worry. We know what you're up against. We stand with you, and we
will not put our troops on alert, for the good of the United States
of America.''
(APPLAUSE)
I brought him
to my ranch because, as the good people in this part of the world
know, that you usually only invite your friends into your house.
Oh, occasionally, we let salesmen enter, too, but...
(LAUGHTER)
... but I wanted
the Putins to see how we live, and, even though we changed addresses,
our hearts are right here in our home state.
We've got a
lot to do together. We've had great discussions in Washington, as
well as here in Texas. We're both pledging to reduce the amount
of nuclear weapons — offensive weapons — we have in order
to make the world more secure. We're talking about ways to cooperate
in antiterrorism and antiproliferation. We're talking about ways
to make sure our economies can grow together.
What we're
talking about is a new relationship, a relationship that'll make
your lives better when you get older, and it'll make your kids'
lives better as they grow up.
But in order
to have a new relationship, it requires a new style leader, and
it's my honor to welcome to Central Texas a new style leader: a
reformer, a man who loves his country as much as I love mine, a
man who loves his wife as much as I love mine, a man who loves his
daughters as much as I love my daughters and a man who's going to
make a huge difference in making the world more peaceful by working
closely with the United States.
Please welcome
Vladimir Putin.
(APPLAUSE)
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): Dear friends, when we were riding here in the presidential
car, I'll divulge to you a small secret of ours.
The first lady
of the United States told me, ``You know, some kind of special people
live here. These are people with a special kind of pride of their
position and of their heritage.'' And the more I come to know the
president of the United States, the more I realize that the first
lady was right. He is right from the heart of Texas, and he is a
Texan. And herself, being a wise woman, she complimented her husband
in an indirect and very sensible way.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
My wife and
myself are also trying to help ourselves as we go along this life.
And it gives me pleasure to introduce my first lady, my wife, Lyudmila
Putina.
(APPLAUSE)
And like President
Bush did, I would also like to congratulate three Texans and two
people from Waco, with the liberation by the U.S. special forces
and their withdrawal from the land of Afghanistan.
Of course,
it is very important to be born under a happy star and to have destiny
facing your way. And indeed, I'm in agreement with the president,
perhaps, God was looking quite positively on this.
But there are
different approaches to addressing such kind of problem. There are
people deeply religious who usually say that God knows what is to
befall a nation of people or a person. But there are people, no
less devoted to God, but who still believe that the people, a person,
should also take care of their own destiny and lives.
And it gives
me great pleasure to deal and to work with President Bush, who is
a person, a man who does what he says.
(APPLAUSE)
And I congratulate
those who have been liberated by the armed forces and their relatives.
And also, I would like to congratulate on this, President Bush.
(APPLAUSE)
On our way
here, we didn't expect at all that things would be so warm and homely
as they were at the ranch of President Bush, here.
Yesterday,
we had a surprise, but today's meeting is yet another and very pleasant
surprise, indeed, for us.
Indeed, in
any country, the backbone of any country is not mainly the people
who live in the capitals, but also and mostly the people who live
hundreds and thousands of miles from the capitals.
It is especially
pleasant and pleasing for me to be here in your high school. And
my being here brings me to remembering those distinguished Russian-Americans
who contributed so much to the development and prosperity of this
nation, including a world known composer and musician, Rachmaninoff;
well-known designer and inventor of aircraft, helicopters and airplanes,
Sigorsky; and a world renowned economist and Nobel prize winner
Leonchev (ph) and many others.
And it is extremely
pleasant for me to know that here in this room we have some people,
boys and girls, from Russia who have come here to study.
(APPLAUSE)
Of course,
serious people work in the capital cities and much depends on them.
But in any circumstances and in any situation, what they must do
is to fulfill the will of their people. And being here, I can feel
the will of these people, the will to cooperate with the Russian
Federation, the will to cooperate with Russia. And I can assure
you that the Russian people fully share this commitment and is also
committed to fully cooperating with the American people.
(APPLAUSE)
Together, we
can achieve quite a lot, especially if we are helped in this by
such a young and active and beautiful generation as the one we are
meeting with now. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
BUSH: The president
and I have agreed to take a few questions from the students. I figure
this would be a pretty good opportunity for you all to ask...
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): Only questions. No math questions, please.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Good
idea. Particularly, no fuzzy math questions.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Does
anybody have any questions?
Yes, ma'am? We have a mike coming so everybody gets to hear it,
too. What is your name, and what grade are you in?
QUESTION: I'm
Amanda Livings (ph), I'm a senior.
BUSH: A senior,
good.
QUESTION: Have
you decided on whether you're going to go to Russia or not?
BUSH: Well...
(LAUGHTER)
The president
invited me and I accepted. We haven't figured out a time yet. But
being that I'm from Texas and kind of like the warm weather, I was
hoping to wait a couple of months.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm really
looking forward to going to Russia. I would hope that I could not
only go to Moscow, but maybe go to the president's hometown of St.
Petersburg, which they tell me is one of the most spectacular cities
in Europe, but I look forward to going. I think it's going to be
a very important trip.
We have met
four times now. We have made a lot of progress on coming together
on some key issues. There's more work to be done. I believe the
U.S.-Russian relationship is one of the most important relationships
that our country can have, and the stronger the relationship is,
the more likely it is the world will be at peace and the more likely
it is we'll be able to achieve a common objective, which is to defeat
the evil ones that try to terrorize governments such as the United
States and Russia.
And we must
defeat the evil ones in order for you all to grow up in a peaceful
and prosperous world.
(APPLAUSE)
OK, wait for
the mike, I'm kind of getting hard of hearing.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: I
was wondering what is President Putin's favorite thing about Texas.
BUSH: What's
he think about Texas?
QUESTION: Yes,
sir.
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Oh, favorite
thing. Favorite (inaudible). Crawford, of course.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): We in Russia have known for a long time that Texas
is the most important state in the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
But seriously
speaking, we in Russia somehow tend to know about Texas rather better
than about the rest of the United States somehow.
Except maybe
for Alaska, which we sold to you.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
In my view,
first of all, because, like in Russia, here in Texas the oil business
is quite well developed, and we have numerous contacts in this area.
And we have very many contacts in such areas as high tech and the
exploration of space. And the fact that the parliament of the state
of Texas declared April the 12th, the day when Yuri Gagarin, the
first man to fly to space, accomplished this, as a state holiday,
like it is a national holiday in Russia, is yet another testimony
of the closeness of our outlook and achievements.
(APPLAUSE)
QUESTION: In
what ways has this summit help bring Russia and U.S. closer together?
BUSH: Well,
first of all — his question is, In what ways have the summit
brought us together?
Well, in order
for countries to come together, the first thing that must happen
is leaders must make up their mind that they want this to happen.
And the more I get to know President Putin, the more I get to see
his heart and soul and the more I know we can work together in a
positive way. And so anytime leaders can come together and sit down
and talk about key issues in a very open and honest way, it will
make relations stronger in the long run.
There's no
doubt the United States and Russia won't agree on every issue. But
you probably don't agree with your mother on every issue.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: You still
love her, though, don't you?
Well, even
though we don't agree on every issue, I still respect him and like
him as a person.
The other thing
is that, the more we talk about key issues, the more likely it is
we come to an understanding. And so the summit enabled us to continue
a very personal dialogue.
As well, we
agreed to some significant changes in our relationship. After long
consultations with people inside our government, I announced that
our government was going to reduce our nuclear arsenal to between
1,700 and 2,200 warheads over the next decade. That's a tangible
accomplishment. I shared that information with President Putin.
He, too, is going to make a declaration at some point in time.
In other words,
this particular summit has made us closer because we've agreed on
some concrete steps as well, specific things we can do together.
We're working on counterproliferation, which is an incredibly important
issue, to make sure that arms and potential weapons of mass destruction
do not end up in the hands of people who will be totally irresponsible,
people that hate either one of our nations.
And so we've
made great progress, and I look forward to future meetings with
the president, because there's more to do to make sure the relationship
outlives our term in office. It's one thing for he and me to have
a personal relationship. The key is that we establish a relationship
between our countries strong enough that it'll endure beyond our
presidencies.
And that's
important so that in the long run, as you come up and as your kids
grow up, that Russia and the United States will cooperate in ways
that'll make the world more stable and more peaceful and in ways
in which we can address the common threats. And terrorism and evil
are common threats to both our governments, and will be tomorrow
as well as today, unless we do something about it now, and that's
exactly what we're doing.
(APPLAUSE)
Yes, ma'am.
Ask the president a question — the other one.
QUESTION: We,
as women in America, are very appreciative of all the rights we
have. So, as the fall of the Taliban government, how do you think
that women's right will affect — it'll affect Afghanistan?
BUSH: How do
I think what?
QUESTION: How
do you think the fall of the Taliban government will affect the
women's right...
BUSH: Yes,
I appreciate that. I'm going to answer it quickly, and then I want
Vladimir to discuss that.
He knows about
women's rights and the importance of them because he's raising two
teenage daughters.
(LAUGHTER)
He and I share
something in common.
I'll tell you
an interesting story, and then I'm going to let him speak about.
First of all,
there's no question the Taliban is the most repressive, backward
group of people we have seen on the face of the Earth in a long
period of time, including and particularly how they treat women.
(APPLAUSE)
But President
Putin, I think it'd be interesting for him to discuss the concept
of women's rights inside of Russia and his vision of how Afghanistan
treats women.
But I'll tell
you an interesting story.
So we're getting
ready to have the first press conference we had together in Slovenia.
And by the way, there's, I think, a thousand reporters there —
it seemed like a thousand. And we were walking in, I said, ``Say,
I understand you've got two daughters.''
He said, ``Yes.''
He said, ``They're teenagers.''
I said, ``I've
been through that myself.''
I said, ``Who'd
you name them for?'' And he said, ``Well, we named them for our
mothers — my mother and my mother-in-law.'' I said, ``That's
interesting. That's exactly what Laura and I did, too.'' We named
our girls for my mother and Laura's mom. And I said, ``Gosh, the
thing I want most in life is for those girls to be able to grow
up in a free world and prosper and realize their dreams.'' He said,
``That's exactly what I hope as well.''
There's a lot
in common between our countries even though it's a long way away,
and it all starts with the human element, the thing that matters
most in life, and that is our faiths and our families and our respective
loves as dads for our daughters.
But, anyway,
I think it would be appropriate for President Putin to talk about
women in Russia and his keen desire like mine to free the women
of Afghanistan as well.
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): I do agree with the president that, indeed, such a
problem does exist in the world. In Afghanistan, this phenomenon
has taken an extreme form and the disrespect of human rights has
acquired extreme dimensions. Overall, women in Afghanistan are basically
not treated as people. And a testimony of the people's attitude
toward this problem — this issue in Afghanistan — is that
in the liberated areas people burned their veils, or as they're
called chadoras, this is the testimony of the attitude of the people
to us in Afghanistan.
In many countries
of the world, especially in the poor countries, this problem exists
and has acquired quite dramatic dimensions. To overcome this, one
needs to develop specific gender-oriented program that would include,
primarily and first of all, questions related to proper education
for women. And I would like to reiterate, there are many programs
and many people devoted to implementing such specific special activities
for the benefit of women, and we should not allow any atrocities
or violations of human rights to happen.
But what we
should avoid in the course of the implementation of such programs,
and as an end result of their implementation is that a lady would
turn into a man.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: At
the end of the war, do you foresee the United States and Russia
being involved in the new implementation of a government in Afghanistan?
BUSH: I do.
I think — and it started yesterday in my house in Crawford
where the president and I had a very long discussion about how to
make sure that the post-Taliban Afghanistan accomplished certain
objectives: one, that it be a peaceful neighbor to everybody in
the region; secondly, that it never harbor and serve as a training
ground for terrorism again; and third, that it be a country that
doesn't export drugs.
I don't know
if you know this or not, but the Taliban government and Al Qaeda
— the evil ones — use heroin trafficking in order to fund
their murder. And one of our objectives is to make sure that Afghanistan
is never used for that purpose again.
And so, we
had a long discussion about a post-Taliban Afghanistan. The president
understands, like I do, that any government in order for it to achieve
its objectives must represent all the interests in Afghanistan,
not only the Northern Alliance which has been very effective fighters
on the ground, but also the Pashtun tribes, which are generally
in the southern part of the country. And we are working to figure
out a strategy to make sure that that happens. There's three phases
to this battle in Afghanistan. One is bringing Al Qaeda to justice.
And we will not stop until we do that; that's what people need to
know.
(APPLAUSE)
Secondly is
to make sure that the good hearts of the American people and the
Russian people and people all over the world are effective. By that,
I mean that we get the aid to the starving folks in Afghanistan.
By the way,
they were starving prior to September 11, because of the Taliban
government's neglect. And we're doing everything we can to make
sure we get food and medicine into the regions. Part of the problem
has been the Taliban. They've been stopping the shipments of food,
believe it or not. It won't surprise the president because he understands
how evil they are. We're just learning how evil they are in America.
The other problem
is to make sure that the distribution lines are now open so that
we can get food, not only from places like Mazar-i-Sharif, that
we have now liberated, but from there into the remote regions of
Northern Afghanistan, in particular it's important that we do that.
And so, we're
working hard to make sure that we accomplish that mission.
And the third objective is to make sure that, after we leave, that
there is a stable government. It's part of the way we built our
coalition, was to assure Russia, who has got a particular interest
in this part of the world, and other countries that we weren't just
coming to come and achieve a military objective and disappear. We
were going to come achieve a military objective, but also help this
country become a reasonable partner in the world, a country that's
able to foster peace and prosperity for it's citizens. And that's
an important part of this campaign. It's important.
It's also important
that we stay the course and be strong, because the stronger we are
as a coalition, the stronger we are in achieving our objective,
it is less likely somebody else is going to try to harbor a terrorist.
Our objective is not just Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Our objective
is to root out terrorism wherever it may hide, wherever it may exist
so the world can be more free, and that's a common objective of
the president and mine.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Got a
question for the president? We just call him Red.
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: My
name is Danny White (ph), and I'm a senior.
BUSH: Danny
White (ph) or Danny Red?
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Danny
White (ph).
BUSH: Oh, Danny
White (ph).
QUESTION: You
say that we've reached an agreement to declare to reduce our nuclear
weapons. In reducing our nuclear weapons, are we talking about de-alerting
them and taking them off of alert status or are we actually taking
apart the warheads and destroying a weapon?
BUSH: We're
talking about reducing and destroying the number of warheads to
get down to specific levels, from significant higher levels today
to significantly lower levels tomorrow.
And as well,
most of our weapons are de-alerted; they're not alert. However,
it doesn't take them long to fire up if we need them. Our mission
is to make sure we never need them on each other. We need to get
beyond the notion that, in order to keep the peace, we got to destroy
each other. That's the old way of thinking. Now, we're working together
to figure out ways to address the new threats of the 21st century.
I'd like for
the president to address that, as well.
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): First of all, I'd like to say that it gives me great
pleasure to be here in this room.
And it's not
quite clear for me whether I'm here in the school or at NASA.
(LAUGHTER)
Looking at
the questions of the 12th graders, it comes to my mind that everything
is fine with this nation and in this school.
(APPLAUSE)
There indeed
exists a number of scenarios of behavior in this situation, and
the question was quite professionally put, mind you. You can just
dismantle the warheads (inaudible) buy the weapons and to preserve
the so-called strike-back capability in order to be able to retaliate.
But one may,
on the other hand, destroy that arsenal. What we do with those arsenals
is subject to negotiations, with the result of those negotiations
depending on the level of trust between the United States and Russia.
Yesterday,
we tasted steak and listened to music, and all of this with the
single purpose and objective to increase the level of confidence
between the leaders and the peoples.
And if we are
to follow this route further, we will certainly arrive at a solution
decision acceptable both to Russia, to the United States and, indeed,
to the entire world.
(APPLAUSE)
QUESTION: As
we go out into the world, do you have any advice for us?
BUSH: Yes.
Listen to your mother.
(APPLAUSE)
I do. I think follow your dreams would be my advice. Work hard.
Make the right choices. And follow your dreams.
And the other
thing is, you never know where life's going to take you. I can assure
you, when I was a senior in high school I never sat in an audience
saying, ``Gosh, you know, if I work hard, I'll be president of the
United States.''
(LAUGHTER)
Didn't exactly fit into my vocabulary in those days.
(LAUGHTER)
But you never know, you never know. Trust the Lord, too.
(APPLAUSE)
QUESTION: President
Putin like the barbecue last night?
BUSH: Ask him.
(LAUGHTER)
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): Just I had hard time imagining how could a living person
create such a masterpiece of cooking.
(LAUGHTER)
Fantastic...
(CROSSTALK)
And when I said so to the president, he said, ``Indeed, this cannot
be done except for in Texas.''
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: I think,
Mr. President, we ought to ask one of the Russian high school students
for a question.
QUESTION: (inaudible)
BUSH: How old
are you?
QUESTION: Eighteen.
QUESTION (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): The question is to President Putin. What do you think
are the improved relations between the two countries would influence,
the Russian economy and the future prospects for the entire world?
And, in general, what do you think of this?
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): Russia has changed greatly recently, and today the
Russian economy is on the rise. The growth rates are considerably
higher than the average for the world. Last year the growth rate
was about 8.3 percent; this year, we're expecting the growth rate
close to 6 percent.
I would like to say that, unlike other economic negotiations and
negotiators, Russia is not seeking and is not expecting any preferences
or any free-buys. We even pay — return the debts of Russia
to the international financial institutions ahead of schedule. Russia
needs only one thing to develop normally; we need normal standard
conditions in relations with all the leading economists of the world
and primarily with the United States. And we have to get rid of
the ideological barricades of the preceding decades. And the president
is helping.
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Let me
tell you an interesting story.
We've sent teams of our economic people over to Russia. And Don
Evans, who is a Texan, is from Midland, Texas, and is now the secretary
of commerce, came back and told me about an encounter he had. He
met a guy, a young man in Russia, who told him that, five years
ago, he was really not a business guy, but he had a dream. And he
realized that he could buy bread in Moscow and transport it to St.
Petersburg and make a little profit, which was a pretty new concept
for the Russian Federation. And as result of working hard and having
an environment, which President Putin is working hard to create,
which is an environment where there's a tax system that's fair —
and by the way, they got a flat tax in Russia.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: He built
his own business. He now owns a grocery store-type business. To
me that's an example of where the reforms that the president is
putting in place are making sense, where people can own something
— own their own business, own their own land, own the opportunity
if you work hard to be able to have a future that you dream about.
And the president understands that. Our job is a country is to help
where asked. If there are ways that we can work together for our
mutual interest, we will do so. And so one of the areas where, I
think, the average Russian will realize that the stereotypes of
America have changed is that it's a spirit of cooperation not one-up-manship.
That we now understand one plus one can equal three, as opposed
to us and Russia, we hope to be zero. And it's just a different
attitude in a different era.
It's time to
get the past behind us. And it's time to move forward. And that's
exactly why we're here in Crawford, to show the world we are moving
forward.
Couple of more
questions, then I got to go have lunch and so does the president.
QUESTION: I
was wondering if you've come to a conclusion about whether or not
to deploy national missile defense system?
BUSH: Are you
with the National Press Corps or are you...
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: I notice
my friends in the National Press Corps giving you a ``thumbs up.''
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Oh, you're
a debater. That's OK then.
(LAUGHTER)
This is an
area that we've had a lot of discussions about. As you might remember,
in the presidential campaign, I said in very plain terms that I
felt the ABM Treaty signed in 1972 is outdated, that the treaty
was signed during a period of time when we really hated each other,
and we no longer hate each other, that I view the treaty as something
we need to move beyond, and I made this very clear to the president.
He understands
our position that it is in our nation's interest and I think his
nation's interest and other peaceful nations' interest to be able
to explore the ability — to determine whether or not we can
be able to deploy defensive systems to prevent people who have might
have weapons of mass destruction from hurting us or holding us hostage
or being able to blackmail free nations. He'll be glad to give you
his position.
We have a difference
of opinion. But the great thing about our relationship is our relationship
is strong enough to endure this difference of opinion, and that's
the positive development: that we found many areas in which we can
cooperate and we've found some areas where we disagree, but, nevertheless,
our disagreements will not divide us, as nations that need to combine
to make the world more peaceful and more prosperous.
So, Mr. President,
if you'd like to address defenses, you're welcome to.
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): I feel that time was not wasted by coming here.
(LAUGHTER)
He president
told me that we'll just limit ourselves to generalities, but he
was mistaken.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): You are applauding yourselves.
(LAUGHTER)
Our objective
is a common, both for the United States and for Russia, the objective
is to achieve security for our states, for our nations, and for
the entire world.
We share the
concerns of the president of the United States to the fact that
we must think of the future threats. And here is a common ground
for our further discussions.
What we differ
in is that we differ in the ways and means we perceive that are
suitable for reaching the same objective. And given the nature of
the relationship between the United States and Russia, one can rest
assured that whatever final solution is found, it will not threaten
or put to threat the interests of both our countries and of the
world. And we shall continue our discussions.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: This
is the last question. And then what we're going to do is we're going
to walk around say hello to everybody, and then we're going to go
back to the ranch.
QUESTION: If
you do go to Russia, are you going to be taking some kids from Crawford?
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): No.
(LAUGHTER)
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): I'm extremely grateful for this question. The whole
audience basically started on this note, and you finalized the whole
thing with your question.
(LAUGHTER)
This is not
a mere coincidence, I believe.
On our way
here, the president invited me to come here when it's plus-40 Celsius,
more than 110. And he invited me to join a plus-40 club who jog
when it is 110 and more.
(LAUGHTER)
Well, I'll think about it.
(LAUGHTER)
Indeed, in
our country there are regions where people live, by the way, in
Siberia, where, for last year, for two weeks in a row, the temperatures
were about, around or below minus-50 Celsius for two weeks running.
My promise is, I will not terrorize your president with such low
temperatures.
(APPLAUSE)
And would be
glad to see any of you present here in Russia.
But first of all, I would like to address here at this juncture,
our host, the school children, the young audience here.
PUTIN (THROUGH
TRANSLATOR): At the count of three, those who want your president
to come to Russia, raise your hands and say ``yes.'' One, two...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Thank
you all. Very good night.
(APPLAUSE)
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