Bush Welcomes Russian President Putin to the White House

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all. Please be seated. I'm pleased to welcome my friend, Vladimir Putin, back to the White House. We just had a constructive meeting and a candid conversation. I told the President how much I enjoyed visiting Russia earlier this year, and how much I'm looking forward to going back to Russia for the G8.

I also thanked President Putin -- Vladimir -- for Russia's offers of assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It meant a lot to know that you cared enough to send critical supplies, and our country really appreciates it. People are going through some tough times down there, and I think it lifts their spirits to know that not only Americans, but Russians care about their future.

We've got a strong ally in Russia in fighting the war on terror. You know, it was about four years ago that our country got attacked; one year ago, there was Beslan, both of them brutal attacks, both of them attacks by people who have no regard for innocent life. And we understand we have a duty to protect our citizens, and to work together and to do everything we can to stop the killing. That's why we hold office.

And I appreciate you very much, and your understanding of this war on terror. We also understand that we've got to work to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. We understand the stakes that people who kill in cold blood, if they have weapons of mass destruction, will kill in cold blood on a massive scale. And I want to appreciate you for your understanding, and thank you for your understanding of that.

We both signed the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was a positive statement by the world. We discussed our efforts to work together in Iran and North Korea. We both -- we have the same goal: We don't want the Iranians to have nuclear weapons and we don't want the North Koreans to have nuclear weapons. We talked about ways to achieve those goals.

We talked about the need to improve nuclear security. This year we reached a milestone in nonproliferation cooperation by completing the conversion of 10,000 Russian nuclear warheads into peaceful fuel for U.S. power reactors. And I appreciate very much that sense of cooperation. That's good for the world to see.

We talked about our economic relationship. Russia has got a growing economy. We have products that they want, and they've got products that we want -- like energy. And it's necessary for us to have a good economic relationship, one where we resolve our differences in a wise way. I told Vladimir that I'm very interested in seeing if we can't get -- complete the negotiations for Russia's entry into the WTO, the World Trade Organization, by the end of this year.

As we strengthen our economic ties we'll work to advance freedom and democracy in our respective countries and around the world. Russia has been a strong partner of the United States, and will be an even stronger partner as the reforms that President Vladimir Putin has talked about are implemented -- rule of law, and the ability for people to express themselves in an open way in Russia.

I don't know how many visits we've had. I haven't been counting them because I've run out of fingers on my hands, but there's been a lot. And every time I visit and talk with President Putin I -- our relationship becomes stronger. And I want to thank you for that. Thank you for coming to the White House to visit. Welcome.