Case NW# 78134 Date co D MT IA L 6397 T H E WH ITE H OU SE WASHINGTON I I MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJECT Telcon with Russian President Putin PARTICIPANTS The President President Putin U Interpreter · Peter Af anase n ko Notetakers Caler DATE TIME AND PLACE Don Gentile Jill Sandl er Marcy September 12 2001 9 35 - 9 40 a m EDT Oval Office the President Vladimir thank you for calling If I sound like I'm in a hurry I am I have a top level security meeting starting now I' d like to speak to you later on today when we have more time at you convenience Let me say two things quickly · You were the first leader to cal l yfsterday Thank you for that Secondly I bel ieve our country is in a state of war We're fighting a faceless coward It's a new kind of war And I believe the world needs to cooperate and I look forward to working with you Sir And I look forward to having the opportunity to work together in a new spirit and to show the world that freedom-lovirtg p ople like you · and me can un te against ·these cowards The · reason I am in a rush is that we believe ·there will be further attacks and I ·need to prepare the · nation for that So if you don't mind I'd like to call you back at your convenience before you go to sleep tonight so that we can talk a bit more before your visi t Pres ident Putin Good George agreed ·r•m· at your disposal ·r can tell you by the way that I have signed a decree that at 12 noon tomorrow Russia will be having a minute of silence for the dead to show solidarity with you All flags wil l be at halfmast nd all entertainment functions will be stopped 't'S l The President 'Thank you friend eeHfil'ftH t 'T' tt Classified by Stephen E Biegun _ Reason 1 5 d ·Declass ify on 9 13 1 1 - NW# 78134 Doc d 34685 234 Sj CCMFIEJEfil'fHtl 2 President Putin And I such acts of terror we acts of cooperation and you and looking forward The President can only fully agree with you that after must draw proper conclusions and launch become closer together I'm fully with to hearing f om you tonight 8 Thank you U · President Putin And I can also say that in conclusion that our relationship has shown between you and me that although the· situation is extremely difficult I'm sure you and your team will triumph I'll hear from you later _ SJ The President President Putin Yes Thank you friend Good-bye U End of Conversation · COM'fii'ID MTild i NW# 78134 Docid 34685234 Good-bye °ts