Interesting comment evaluating Our President.
"When President Bush is mentioned, he is called George Bush Junior. For me, he is
not junior. I was born in 1952, he was born in 1946, I think. [Right, on July 6.]
"For me, he is first of all a colleague in the work in the regions. You see, I know
how he feels in this sense.
"I, myself, worked in one of the major regions of the Russian Federation for seven
years. I was deputy mayor of St Petersburg, whereas Bush was head of one of the
major states.
"Maybe that is why it was fairly easy for me to talk to him."
Then, in what has become typical of Putin's handling of the press, he launched right
into a question not asked, thus resurrecting a point he wanted to rub in by
indirection:
"Second, I should say that I do not share the opinion of some that he lacks
experience. He and I are fairly professional.
"In my 18 months as Russian president, I have been trying to gain an understanding
of many things myself, and I have tried to do that as deeply as possible.
"I must say that in this respect he is a totally competent interlocutor, with whom one
can talk a common language and understand what is being said.
"That is also a positive aspect, because it is hard to talk to a person about
something when they do not understand. I had no problems in that respect. He was
very well-prepared.
"Third, just as a person, which is probably also an important aspect - I don't know if
he will like me saying this or not - it seemed to me that he is a pretty spiritual
person, nice to talk to, maybe even - again, perhaps I shouldn't say this - maybe a
bit sentimental. But I think that is a good sign.
"Although at the same time, he firmly stood his ground, especially on issues of
international security. I have nothing to add there. You know, we did not even try to
reach agreement on certain issues that we discussed. We just set out our positions.
"This is all a very good basis on which to build both a personal relationship and to
try to find solutions to the complex issues that we have not yet managed to agree
on."
newsmax.com
tom watson tosiwmee |
