Transcript of Putin's Press Conference

[Moderator] The next question please - in the second row.

[Question] In the course of your recent meeting -

[Moderator] Can you introduce yourself, please -

[Question] Japan's NHK TV.

[Moderator] Thank you.
 

Jiang Zemin's visit

[Question] In the course of your recent meeting, you and the Chinese leader Jiang Zemin discussed the issue in connection with the deployment of the USA's NMD. Are joint actions by Russia and China possible if the US plan is implemented?

One other question: Mr President, I am very envious of the fact that you were able so easily to settle the territorial issues with China. Is it Japan's turn yet? What will your first meeting with the Japanese prime minister, Koizumi, be like?

[Putin] Do you envy China or Russia? [Laughter in the audience]

Let us start at the beginning. Chairman Jiang Zemin and I discussed the possibility of the USA abandoning the 1972 ABM treaty but this issue was not central during his visit. We talked, first and foremost, about bilateral relations, about relations between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation. As you know, we signed the treaty on friendship and cooperation, and it is a really good basis for building interstate relations. The Russian Federation and China are divided by the border which stretches for thousands of kilometres.

We still have not been able to sort out two sections of this border. I do hope very much that after the consultations which Chairman Jiang Zemin and I had and also in Beijing, during my previous trip to China, and recently in Shanghai, and now in Moscow, after our foreign ministries stepped up their work in this area, we hope that over the course of a year we will be able to come to agreement on those two sections. It is a very complex issue and I would not like to speak categorically about any timescales. We are going to conduct negotiations until we reach a situation which satisfies both sides.

As for a possible answer, a joint answer of Russia and China, to the US withdrawal from the 1972 ABM treaty, every state determines for itself what to do and how. It is possible in theory. In practical terms, Russia is not planning any joint actions in this sphere with other states, including China. I should tell you that Russia has enough strength and means of its own to respond to any change in the sphere of international and strategic stability. We are prepared for any course of events.