Exchange With Reporters on Capitol Hill

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 26, 2001

March 22, 2001

Expulsion of Russian Diplomats

Q. Relations with the Russians in trouble, headed for trouble?

The President. No, the actions we took yesterday speak for themselves. I'm confident that we can have good relations with the Russians. There are some areas where we can work together. But we made the right decision yesterday.

Q. Will Moscow expel some United States diplomats?

The President. I have no idea with Moscow is going to do.

Q. Should they--is that appropriate? When will you meet with any of Russian--

The President. All I can tell you is that the actions we took yesterday speak for themselves. It's the right decision to make, and having said that, I believe we can have a working relationship with the Russians. I intend to have a working relationship with the Russians. I suspect the first time I'll have a chance to sit down with Mr. Putin is when I head overseas to the G-7-plus-1, but our Government made the right decision yesterday.

Q. Mr. President, what about concerns that this takes us back to a cold war mentality or strategy?

The President, We made the right decision yesterday. I was presented with the facts; I made the decision; it was the right thing to do. And having said that, I believe that we'll have a good working relationship with the Russians. But we did the right thing yesterday.

NOTE: The exchange began at 11:15 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. In his remarks, the President referred to President Vladimir Putin of Russia. A tape was not available for verification of the content of this exchange.