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President Bush Meets with President Medvedev of Russia at G8 Summit
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 7, 2008

President Bush Meets with President Medvedev of Russia at G8 Summit Windsor
Hotel Toya Resort and Spa Toyako, Japan

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ÿÿÿÿÿ G8 Summit 2008

12:32 P.M. (Local)

PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank the President for a good, meaningful
discussion. It's the first time Dmitriy and I met since he has become
President of his big country, and we had a good discussion. We talked about
Iran; we talked about a variety of issues. And while there's some areas of
disagreement, there's also areas where I know we can work together for the
common good.

I found him to be a smart guy who understood the issues very well. But I'm
not surprised. After all, he has been very close to foreign policy issues
up until his ascendency to the presidency. He reminded me of our visit to
the White House in 2005, where we discussed foreign policy then. And now I
plan on -- discuss it face to face as Presidents of our respective
countries.

PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV: (As translated.) Well, indeed, we had this exchange
today with George concerning various issues on the agenda of our
relationship, including those of domestic importance, trade and
investments, and internationally related matters, including those conflicts
and crisis tendencies in the world. And true that on certain matters we do
have differences originating from the previous background and differences
are there. And on the others we have absolutely similar positions. But what
is really important, the dialogue is there and there is a commonality of
the overview on various things between us.

And the other thing which is also important is that I congratulated George
on his birthday, which is also a very important thing, irrespective of
summits out there -- irrespective of our will, these dates occur in our
life.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Everybody has a birthday. Anyway, we'll answer one question
apiece.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. You're leaving, he's coming. There's not much
time left. Were you able to make any movement? Was there anything that you
could accomplish on issues like missile defense? And also, besides his
intellect, what else did you see in the new President?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I reminded him that, yes, I'm leaving, but not until six
months and I'm sprinting to the finish. So we can get a lot done together
and, you know, a lot of important issues. There is -- you know, Iran is an
area where Russia and the United States have worked closely in the past and
will continue to work closely to convince the regime to give up its desire
to enrich uranium.

You know, I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the man, but I will
tell you that he's very comfortable, he's confident, and that I believe
that when he tells me something, he means it. Sometimes in politics people
tell you one thing and mean another. My judgment is that when he tells you
something he means it, and that's going to be good for the world leaders to
have somebody that -- you may not agree with what he tells you, but at
least you know it's what he believes.

Q What is your perspective for the further development of the U.S.-Russia
relationship?

PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV: (As translated.) Well, yes, we have discussed these
matters on the further development of a relationship between our two
countries with George and we are positive that they will develop further on
and we will build on the relationship with the new American administration.
But we still have six months with the effective administration and we'll
try to intensify our dialogue with this administration.

The other thing is that, yes, there are certain questions on our agenda
where we agree, and these are the matters pertaining to Iran, North Korea.
But then certainly there are others with respect to European affairs and
missile defense where we have differences. We would like to agree on these
matters, as well, and we also feel very comfortable in our dealings with
George.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. Thank you, sir.

END 12:40 P.M. (Local)

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