On Thursday afternoon, the President will meet with Russian President Putin, followed by a joint press availability.
On Thursday evening, the President and Mrs. Bush will depart the Slovak Republic and return to Washington, D.C.
That's the schedule as it stands now. If there are any changes, the Press Office will notify you. I'd be glad to take any questions.
Q: Can you say how direct the President is going to be when he talks to Vladimir Putin about the retreat from democracy in Russia? And what are the President's concerns there?
MR. HADLEY: Well, we've -- as you know, the President has a good relationship, good personal relationship with President Putin. We've been able to solve some problems and work together, the United States and Russia, in areas of counter-proliferation, counterterrorism. We're working together in terms of the six-party talks in North Korea, in terms of advancing Middle East peace.
The President, in prior conversations, has emphasized to President Putin the importance of the principles of freedom and democracy, and his view that the United States wants to broaden and deepen its relationship with Russia, and to have that relationship reach its full maturity, Russia needs to progress along on the course of democracy and freedom, for the good of the relationship and, obviously, for the good of the Russian people. And I'm sure that will be a topic of conversation, as well.
Q: Will he say that he's concerned that Russia is not making the progress the United States would like to see?
MR. HADLEY: There clearly have been some developments recently that have raised some questions and concerns, and I'm confident the President will discuss them with President Putin.
Q: Stephen, European officials see a real opportunity to turn a corner here in U.S.-European relations. Does the President see it the same way?
MR. HADLEY: Yes, he does, and I think he was clear on that today. The -- he reaffirmed today in his comments with many of you the importance of the transatlantic relationship towards meeting the challenges that the United States and Europe face in the 21st century. I think we are knit together by a common set of principles and a common set of values, and the President sees very much the opportunity for the United States and Europe to work together to advance the freedom agenda, which the President has talked about in his State of the Union and in his inaugural address.
There's a lot more that we share with the Europeans in terms of common principles, common values, and a common approach to problems. And I think what you'll see is the United States and Europe working together to develop a common agenda, going forward.
Q: Stephen, when Secretary Rice was over there and met with the NATO Secretary General, he spoke specifically about new steps that NATO could take, and that he was optimistic that NATO would take, not only in the future training of Iraqi security forces outside of Iraq, but inside Iraq; also setting up a new fund and garnering new financial contributions in order to help transport equipment and other things into the Iraqi security force and the Iraqi military. Is that something that the President is likely to get some new assurances on when he's in Europe?
MR. HADLEY: We clearly want to see this as an opportunity for the United States and Europe to identify ways in which we can support the new Iraqi government. And I think that will be a subject for his conversations, not only in NATO, but also in terms of the EU. NATO, of course as you know, already has a training mission that is going on in Baghdad. There are also members of NATO who are doing training outside the country. The Germans, for example, are doing training in UAE. So there will be a question about whether there can be an expansion of those training activities. Certainly, that would be an item of discussion with NATO.
In terms of the EU, there will be a new government in Baghdad, and one of the questions is how can the EU and the United States work together to support that government. Developing confidence, developing ministries that can deliver the better life that the Iraqi people want is a new -- a huge challenge for this new government. And I think there will be some discussions about how the United States and Europe can work together towards supporting that new government as it organizes itself and then deals with a staggering set of problems.
Q: But in terms of concrete assurances, or specifics, we know that there's not going to be any specific communiqué or anything like that, but the NATO Secretary General said specifically when Secretary Rice was there that he thought -- wanted to have specific commitments from the 26 NATO members in some form, either through training or financial contributions by the time of Bush's visit. Is that something that's going to happen?
MR. HADLEY: Certainly, it's something that they've talked about. And there's a huge amount of progress already made, because, as you know, a number of NATO countries -- in fact, the vast majority of NATO countries are already, in one form or another, supporting this effort. So I would expect that you will see that set fill out.
