Bush And Putin: Friends Forever»

President of the US George Bush and President of Russia Vladimir Putin met in Bratislava yesterday.

Answering journalists? questions about the democratic course in Russia, Putun said that there could be no turning back.

?Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy 14 years ago, independently, without any pressure from outside,? he said at the press conference.

?It made that decision in the interest of itself, in the interest of its people, of its citizens. This is our final choice and we have no way back. There can be no return to what we used to have before.?

As for George Bush, he described the meeting as constructive and emphasized the strong friendship between the two leaders.

He said, ?We?ve produced a lot of positive results in this meeting. We agreed to accelerate our work to protect nuclear weapons and material, both in our two nations and around the world. And I want to thank you for that. And I want to thank our defense ministers for working on that issue as well. Minister Ivanov is here. He and Secretary Rumsfeld have had a very constructive relationship.?