GEORGE W. BUSH: I want to thank the President for a good, meaningful discussion. It's the first time Dmitry 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 ascendancy 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.
Dmitry Medvedev: I also want to say that we have discussed different issues, which are always part of our agenda. We have discussed domestic issues and those pertaining to trade and expanded investment. We have discussed issues linked with international concerns, current conflicts and crises. We have consensus on some issues; we are still divided on others. But, most importantly, our dialogue continues; and we continue to meet each other. And this is probably the main, key, conclusion.
Moreover, I have wished George a happy birthday because such things happen regardless of our will and the current summit.
Question To President Bush: 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?
GEORGE W. 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 psychoanalyse 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.
Question To President Medvedev: Mr President, what do you think about the future of Russian-US relations?
Dmitry Medvedev: I think everything will be OK, and our relations will continue to develop. I told George about this. At any rate, we will build relations with the new administration that will take over fairly soon. Naturally, we still have six months left, as has been said before, in order to work intensely and finish our relations with the incumbent administration on a good note.
Our traditional agenda is another issue. It is very good that we are making headway, including on the Iranian and North Korean issues. Unfortunately, we have stalled on some other issues. This concerns, for instance, some European issues, missile defence issues and some others. But I am convinced that we can reach agreement on these issues if we want to. In this sense, I find it quite comfortable to talk to George about this. I am convinced and I hope that the situation will be the same with his successors.