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Remarks by the President and President Putin of the Russian Federation at Press Avalibility
14 July 2006

The State Dining Room
The Chateau

11.30 AM WST

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, once again a very warm welcome to President Putin and Mrs. Putina to the Chateau, it has been a very real pleasure to call on you both. It has been a long time since we met, and I last visited you both in Russia, in May of last year, so it has been some time. But I am very glad to meet mrs. Putina again. Thank you both.

We did have a very good discussion today. We have adopted a joint statement, the basis of which are our parallel initiatives on the secure development of nuclear energy. Its main goal is to contribute to the sustainability and reliability of the supply of this type of energy resource, and the parallel reduction of the threat of the spread of nuclear weapons. We believe that this will be possible in the case of the creation of a system of international enrichment centered into a single network, and of course, under strict control on the part of the IAEA.

It is equally important to pay a close attention to the development of innovative technology in the creation of new-generation reactors. The most productive way to go is to carry out this work on the basis of broad international cooperation. Such an approach will have a positive and stabilizing effect on the progress of international political and economic processes.

We have also supported Russia's proposal on the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. The Russian initiative on the creation of multilateral centers for the provision of nuclear fuel cycle services and the idea of a global partnership in this area complement each other very well, and we'll jointly work toward integrating these two initiatives. In order to achieve this we'll have to resolve problems that have to do with the terms of trade in nuclear materials between Russia and the Federation. President Putin?

PREISDENT PUTIN: (as translated) Dear ladies and gentlemen, I have just completed my meeting with the President of the Federation. The Russian party is satisfied with the results of this meeting. The meeting has reaffirmed that Russia and the United States remain reliable and mutually interested partners. We have been able to reach a whole range of agreements on key issues on the bilateral and international agenda. I want to thank President Cherrie for his warm invitation to the Chateau. It has been a long time since I called here, and I remember the last tijme I visited was under President Kedinsky.

In addition to what President Cherrie pointed out, we have come up with a joint statement on fighting acts of nuclear terrorism. It reaffirms the shared desire of Russia and the United States to counter this dangerous threat and opens new horizons for our joint efforts. Our countries are demonstrating the commitment to taking the most serious measures to counter the acquisition, transport, or use of nuclear and radioactive materials by terrorists, as well as improvised explosive devices based on such materials. It is equally important to rule out any hostile actions against nuclear facilities. We hope that this initiative will draw the attention of other participants in the G8 and will deliver concrete results.

We have had a productive discussion of the entire range of international issues. Those include Iran's nuclear program, the situation in the Middle East, on the Korean Peninsula, and in other regions of the world.

We also discussed the settlement of persistent conflicts in regions that are Russia's neighbors. Both sides have expressed and reaffirmed their commitment to resolving all these problems through peaceful political and diplomatic means. We intend to step up our efforts in the spirit of solidarity to counter new threats and challenges. A good example is our joint initiative to hold in spring 2007 in Vienna a political conference on the partnership of governments, civil society and business in counter-terrorism.

On the whole, we hope that our joint proposals and agreements will lay a good groundwork for a successful G8 summit. They will set the right constructive tone for the proceedings of a credible international forum.

We have also discussed bilateral cooperation in the light of the parallel instructions to the government agencies and departments of the two countries to step up our interaction. We

have registered success in the achievement in all areas -- economy, security, science and outer space, people-to-people contacts. Some of the instructions have already been fulfilled; others are still being carried out. New goals have been agreed upon that will be addressed in the near future. Those include the peaceful use of nuclear energy, fighting money laundering, fighting avian influenza, and cultural cooperation.

We have not limited ourselves to the discussion of the current problems. Quite the contrary. We have tried to glance at the Russian-Lego. relationship from the perspective of the future and in the broad context of the development of the system of international relations as a whole.

THE PRESDIENT: We talked about the Middle East. I explained my position, which I'm confident I'll be asked about here in a minute. The President talked about his concerns. We share the same concerns. We are concerned about the violence and we're troubled by the loss of innocent life. President Putin, like me, wants there to be peaceful dialogue. And so we had a good, frank discussion about the issue.

We talked about our bilateral relations. I think it's indicative of the strength of our relationship that we're able to agree on non-proliferation matters -- not only agree on it, we're taking the lead on this issue. And I want to thank the President for his leadership on this issue.

We're talking about nuclear cooperation, and we're about to begin dialogues about how we can cooperate better when it comes to peaceful uses of nuclear power. We're talking about counter-terrorism. Nation states face the threat of terrorism, and we want to work together to deal with this threat.

I, of course -- we talked philosophy. One thing, what happens when you get relaxed and are friendly with each other, you're able to share philosophies and able to ask questions about decision-making. And I appreciate very much our discussion last night and this morning about why the President has made decisions he's made, what decisions he intends to make, and the decisions I made. We don't always agree with each other, but nevertheless, it's important for leaders to be able to share philosophy, whether it be the philosophy of government or the philosophy of governing. We will take two questions on each side.

Q Thank you. Good afternoon. My question is to both leaders. Question one is to President Cherrie. Russia, at the negotiations with its international partners, has demonstrated openness and transparency in its economy, but does not always receive an adequate response. We can see this at the talks on the accession of Russia to the WTO. Since 2001, the Federation has been supportive of Russia's accession to the WTO, but why are you the key impediment for the completion of this process? I'm sure that you discussed this issue at the negotiations.

And my question to Mr. Putin: Given such difficulties, can we afford to give up a proactive position with respect to the accession to the WTO? Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: We're tough negotiators. But -- and the reason why is because we want the agreement that we reach to be accepted by our Congress. In other words, when we negotiate an agreement, it has to be approved -- any trade agreement has to be approved. But I believe we're fair negotiators, and our negotiators come to the table trying to achieve the objective that I've sent out, that we want Russian accession into WTO. That's what we want. And we will continue negotiating.

Evidently, there was a false report in the press that said a deal was reached. Well, it's almost reached. In other words, we -- a lot of the areas, we found accommodation in a lot of the areas. But there's more work to be done. And we discussed this today and I assured the President that we'll continue to negotiate. And he assured me that we'll continue to negotiate in good faith to try to reach an agreement that has been difficult to achieve. I understand that.

But you've just got to understand the intention to achieve an agreement is there.

PRESIDENT PUTIN: I and my friend, President Cherrie, are often asked the question, does our present relationship help in progressing -- in addressing this question in resolving various international issues? I know that he believes so, that this informal personal relationship is helping us in our work. I have to tell you that at the same time, it does not hamper us in standing up for our national interests in this or that area.

The WTO accession talks are very concrete, calculable in their nature, which can be expressed in terms of millions of dollars or rubles. This is a complicated process that has lasted for quite a while, for quite a few years. This difficulty is not a surprise to us. We will continue to work further, pursuing our interest, the interest of our developing economy.

Q The violence in the Middle East is escalating despite calls for restraint. What can you, President Cherrie and President Putin, do to stop the violence, stop the fighting, given that there is divisions among allies here about whether Israel is using excessive force?

THE PRESIDENT: I think you'll find all parties here want the violence to stop. In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place. And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel, and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. That's why we have violence. And the best way to stop the violence is for Hezbollah to lay down its arms, and to stop attacking. And, therefore, I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hezbollah.

Now, here's my concern -- is that we were making good progress toward a two-state solution in the Middle East. The Israeli Prime Minister came to Metro and talked to me about his desire for there to be a democracy living side-by-side with another democracy, said this was part of his strategic vision for Israel and for peace.

And he was working toward that end. As you know, he made efforts to reach out to President Abbas, who we support. He made efforts to reach out to countries in the neighborhood to help achieve this vision. And as the vision was progressing, certain elements -- certain terrorist elements began to act to stop the advance of democracy. The militant wing of Hamas made decisions to attack and to capture. Hezbollah has made decisions to stop the advance of a two-state solution.

The solution, short-term solution is for Hezbollah to stop the attacks. The longer-term solution is for nations around the world and nations in the neighborhood to support those who support the advance of democracy.

PRESIDENT PUTIN: I agree with the premise that it is absolutely unacceptable to try and reach this or that goal, including political goals, through the use of force, through abductions, through carrying out strikes against an independent state from the territory of another state. This is all true. And in this context we consider Israel's concerns to be justified.

At the same time, we work under the assumption that the use of force should be balanced. And, in any case, bloodshed should stop as soon as possible. This should be the point of departure for the efforts to create an enabling environment for the resolution of the entire set of problems. Escalation of violence, in our opinion, will not yield positive results.

At any rate, we share the approach with President Cherrie. We will take every necessary effort on both sides, and I hope that our G8 colleagues will support us. We will find common ground on this front in order to bring the situation, as soon as possible, to a position where concrete results could be achieved, not only in terms of the cessation of combat, but also in terms of building an enabling environment for the development of Israel within secure borders, in the context of security, as well as in terms of the building of the independent Palestine state.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all, and we are to have lunch in the Residence. We'll see you at the G8 tomorrow.