PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
07 July 2008
Bush, Russia’s Medvedev Highlight Agreement on Iran, North Korea
Leaders showcase importance of U.S.-Russian ties in first meeting
Washington -- President Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev highlighted their agreement on security challenges posed by Iran and North Korea following their first formal presidential meeting.
They also spoke on the need to continue working through several complex issues at the heart of U.S.-Russian relations.
Bush and Medvedev spoke July 7 after an hour-long private meeting on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Toyako, Japan. It was the new Russian president’s first appearance at the global gathering since taking office in May and Bush’s final meeting with leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.
“I'm sprinting to the finish,” Bush said. “We can get a lot done together.”
Much has changed since Bush’s first meeting with Medvedev’s predecessor, Vladimir Putin, at Slovenia’s Brdo Castle in June 2001, where Bush famously “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to get a sense of his soul.”
When asked about Medvedev, Bush said, “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.”
By the time Putin stepped down to become Medvedev’s prime minister, he was second only to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in total number of meetings with Bush, highlighting the importance of close connections between Washington and Moscow. The two countries are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council; key players in the P5+1 group working on curtailment of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and the Six-Party Talks on North Korea; and members of the Quartet for Middle East Peace, the G8 and a host of other international groups. (See “Cooperation Often Overlooked in U.S.-Russian Relations.”)
“There are certain questions on our agenda where we agree, and these are the matters pertaining to Iran, North Korea,” Medvedev said through an interpreter. “But then certainly there are others with respect to European affairs and missile defense where we have differences.”
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is traveling to Prague on July 8 to conclude an agreement with Czech officials. They have agreed to host a tracking radar as part of the Europe-based ballistic missile defense system endorsed by NATO’s 28 members at the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania.
While the system is aimed at defending the region from future threats from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea, Russia has expressed concern that it could pose a future strategic challenge, even though experts note that the system’s 10 interceptor rockets are far outweighed by the thousands of missiles in Russia’s arsenal.
In an April 6 summit at the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Bush and Putin agreed to step up expert-level talks on folding the currently proposed defense system into a future missile defense system that would be managed jointly by the United States, Russia and Europe. That was one of several items featured in the “Strategic Framework Declaration,” a document detailing both areas of cooperation and continuing challenges in U.S.-Russian relations. (See “Bush, Putin Chart Course Ahead for U.S.-Russian Relations.”)
Medvedev expressed Russia’s willingness to continue building relations between Moscow and Washington by maintaining the dialogue on missile defense, extending NATO membership to new countries, Kosovo’s future and other issues. “We would like to agree on these matters,” Medvedev said.
“While there are some areas of disagreement, there are also areas where I know we can work together for the common good,” Bush said.
