В.Путин.Пресс-конференция c Д.Бушем.15.07.06.Part 3

Press Conference Following Talks with U.S. President George W. Bush
July 15, 2006.Part 3
Strelna, St Petersburg

Пресс-конференция по итогам переговоров с Президентом США Джорджем Бушем
15 июля 2006 года
Санкт-Петербург, Стрельна

VLADIMIR PUTIN: My guest and I, my friend, the President of the United States, George W. Bush, are often asked the question, whether our personal relationship helps in addressing certain issues or resolving various bilateral international problems. I always say so and I know that he also believes that this informal personal relationship is helping us in our work. I have to tell you that, at the same time, it does not prevent us from standing up for our national interests on a given issue.

Talks concerning Russias accession to the WTO concern very concrete, calculable matters. This can be expressed in tonnes, billions, or millions of dollars or rubles. This is a complicated process that has lasted for quite a few years. This difficulty is not a surprise to us. We will continue to work further, pursuing our interests, the interests of our developing economy.

QUESTION: The violence in the Middle East is escalating despite calls for restraint. What can you, President Bush 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?

GEORGE W. BUSH: 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 Washington 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.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I agree with the premise that it is absolutely unacceptable to try and reach a certain 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 respect 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 establishing conditions that will allow us to resolve the whole range of problems. The escalation of violence, in our opinion, will not yield positive results. At any rate, we share President Bushs approach. Both of us will make every necessary effort to resolve this problem 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 quickly as possible, to a position where concrete results can be achieved. And desirable results include ceasing combat, building a favourable environment for both the development of Israel within secure borders, with security, and for building an independent Palestinian state.

QUESTION: Mr. President, let me address my question to both of you. There has been a lot of concerns about proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. And having discussed this issue, could you share the results of your talks? And also, if you could let me, we all can see that you enjoy good personal relationships, but do you notice any deterioration of ties on a state level between the two countries? Thank you.

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