Official website of the President of Russia

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President Vladimir Putin: First of all, I would like to say that I am very glad to have the opportunity to meet with the U.S. President within the framework of the APEC summit. And I began our meeting today with words of gratitude for the very warm welcome we received during our recent visit to Kennebunkport.

We talked about various matters on our bilateral agenda and about important international problems, first and foremost, about missile defence. We noted that it is necessary that our experts meet again very soon and make another trip to the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan. We can, therefore, see that joint work in this direction is continuing.

We discussed Russia's WTO accession plans. We hope that this work will have positive results and that work at the expert level will continue.

We also talked about the Iranian nuclear problem. I would like to say that Russia intends to continue to work with our partners and colleagues within the framework of the IAEA and the United Nations. We hope that we can find a solution for the benefit of the both: international community and of the Iranian people.

We also covered our economic relations. We discussed various major economic projects whose implementation is in the interests of both countries' business communities.

We also discussed environmental issues, particularly in light of the forthcoming APEC summit. I must say that our positions on this issue are very close.

I would like to thank the President of the United States for today's very constructive and open dialogue. This gives me reason to believe that our countries relations will develop in a similarly positive way in the future.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Vladimir, thanks. For a minute, I thought he brought up the Kennebunkport visit to remind me that he was the only one who caught the fish. But in fact, it was our — my family's great pleasure to welcome my friend the President of Russia to Mother and Dad's home.

I have nothing much more to add than what Vladimir said. We did discuss a variety of issues that are of importance to our respective countries, and I found the conversation to be cordial and constructive. We are results-oriented people. We want to help solve problems. And we recognize that we can do better solving problems when we work together.

So I appreciate your time, appreciate your friendship, and appreciate the chance to dialogue on important matters.

President Putin: And we also agreed that we will go fishing not only in the United States but also in a Siberian river at some point.