tUNt71Ul N 111 L CONPIDEM Ilth NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL 2569 WASHINGTON D C 20504 ecla ssifiecl Ca se lW# 78134 Date 8-25-2025 March 20 2003 MEMORANDUM FOR COL JAMES A WHITMORE · Executive Secretary Department of Defense MR LEWIS LIBBY National Security Advisor to the Vice President MR KARL HOFMANN Execut ive Secretary Department of State Memorandum of Te l ephone Conversation with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation U SUBJECT The attached Memorandum of Telephone Conversat ion between the Presiden t and President Putin of the Russian Federation on March· 18 2003 is provided eyes only for the information of the Vice President the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense · i ulte Executive Secretary - Attachment Tab A Memorandum of Telephone Conversation cmilFiflEM'fIMl Classified by · Gregory L Schulte Re ason 1 5 d De c l assify o n NW# 78134 03 19 13 ce 'FIBE Doc Id 3468531§ Ii Nf AL cmwIDB JIFIAL 2569 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION SUBJ'ECT Telephone conversation with President Vladimir Putin of the Russia Federation PARTICIPANTS U The President President Putin Notetakers Andy Green Marko Broz Jeff Blair Interprete DATE TIME AND PLACE The Pr s ident President Putin Peter Afanasenko March 18 2003 Oval Office 9 29 - 9 50 a m EST Hey Vl dimir how are you today U Very well and I am glad to hear you U The President I told you that we would continue to discuss matters of world issues This is just another chance to continue efforts to ta l k leader to leader U President Putin Yes · I was looking forward to your call U The President Thank y ou and a coupl e p ints th t I w6uld lik to make and then I would like t heai what you have to say I appreciate Igor's artic le in some of our paper talki g about the U S -Russian partnership We ·should not endanger this relationship That is wha·t you and I discussed · and I apprec iat e your talking with the American public along these lines I recognized that we will never come to the same conclusion on Saddam Hussein but I did try very hard in the U N to achieve a consensus For right now the U N process is over as far as I am concerned There ·is a role ·for the United Nations after operatioris if there are military operations There will be a role for the U in the post-Saddam I raq afte the war I just want to assure you o f that Finally · and I say if a war comes because perhaps the initiative that you tried · · could come to fruition and Saddam could still leave Final l y I think it is important that we watch this anti-American sentiment You have been good about not · enf l arning anti-American • G9NFIDBil JTD1J11 Classified by Gregory L Schulte Reason 1 5 d Decl ssify on 3 1 9 13 NW# 78134 Docid 34685315 • I ' • CONF DEN I H L 2 · sentiment but in some capitals they have not been as cautious For instance in Paris there is anti-Ameri can sentiment and because of that there is a significant anti-French backlash that has been hard for me to manage I know that you know this and I appreciate your understanding but there is a difference between disagreeing on a issue and unnecessar ily enflaming_the passions of the people with anti-American slogans and bashing o f leaders You have been firm in your opinion but respectful of our relationship · and I want to thank you for that That is a l l that is on my mind today and I am confident that we will continue the dialogue as matters unfold I appreciate your taking my p hone call t6 President Putini Thank you George Thank you for your call This is important for me It is true that your opinions on Iraq diverge 1rorn mine I have catef ully studied your address to the nation and I cannot say that I agre with everything in t he address but I do believe that the fundamental signif i cance of our state to-state relationship is more important Even more important to me are our personal relations and as ·yo_u can see I am refraining from commenting on your address If the mil itary operation does start then I will have to comment but I will not make comments in a way that will belittle oui personal relationship As far as our disagreement on the political issue is concerned I - will just say that we have discussed this more than once and I can see some specific t hings that I find wrong I believe that if we had acted jointly and consistently without the use of mil itary force then we could have achieved the same result This concerns not only Iraq but also the rest of t he Middle East region We coul d have pressured other countries in a way that could ha e benefited t he region as a whole The second point that I would like to draw your attention to is that and I believe this is significant You said that the goal is ·a regime change however this is not something provided for in the U N charter or in internation·a1 law Also it woul d be unfair to say that the Iraqis have done nothing Your military pieparations and diplomatic channels have pushed Iraq to do many things The most important thing and I have already ment ioned this is that we should not iubstitute t he law of force for international law I do agree that we should bring this process back to the channel of the U N and this shciuld be regardless of how thi situation in Iraq unfolds In this vein I have given instructions to Ivanov to go to New York t onight His mi ssion is not to score pro aganda points with regard to the Iraq situation and it will not be to enflame anti-American sentiment in the U N It will be to determine the future of inspections We have sent them there COMP IDflh fHth NW# 78134 Docid 34685315 CONFif' M'fIAL 3 to facilitate the process and we should a least thank them Some of the have even died as you know I talked earlier today with the new · president of the Pe6ple's Repub lic of Chin · hd he told me tha t one of his best people died there This is an important instrument of international inspection and we hould not lose this We should jointly see how we can minimize the damage to the U N I _would like· to repeat this I know about the sentiments of yo0r aides and I ·cto think we shou ld return the process to the U _N · Let me make sure we are c lear on this ·r think the United Nations should be invol v ed afterwards i f there are military o erations but my judgment is that the United Nations is through AA The President President Putin The President This is what I meant Okay U U President Putin If the war does start then ater on we shou l d return to the piocess of the United Nations This will be in t he interest of the United Sta t es The President I agree U Okay I unde rstand what you are saying President Putin In spite of the differences on Irai the United States and Russia should cooperqte in the interests of internationa l peace and stability I know that the United States Senate has ratified the Treaty on the reduction of strategic potentials and we hav sent ihe Treaty to our Duma and it is scheduled to be voted on this Friday The President Oh good Vladimir Thank you U President Putin If a military operation does start then we might want to hold back on this due to unfolding events in Iraq so that t here is no scandal 'S t The President President Putin I understand This could make things w_o rse The Pres i dent I am confident can get it passed CO ffIDEN'PH1 L NW# 78134 U Doc Id 3468-5315 Aren't you confident t _hat you l 4 COUPIDEH'FL L President Putin Yes It wil l pass and I wou ld l ike to reiterate that our goal is to cooperate with the Vni ed States It will pass The only issue is the tactics in terms of the time frame The President I understand U President Putin I agree with you that right now it is important for us to demonstrate that our long term commitment is to cooperation with the United States re _ The President It was just confirmed President Putin The President Thank you George That is all for today Th at is great U U U President Putin Finally I would like to repeat the invitation to you to come to St Petersburg later this year This would be an important meeting regardless of how the situation in Iraq unfolds because it wouia be a rather informal event I t would be even better to get together to discuss this and other important issu es as well The President I hope _to be able to make i t I know you put a lot of planning into it St Pete sburg is o ne of the greatest cities in the world Another thing I appreciate your instructions to Igor to come and not enflame passions I appreciate that lot You know how those diplomats can behave I have trouble with mine as well a President Putin Yes It should not become a sport U The President I have trouble r eining mine in as well ·v1adimir I will ' ·talk to you soon My best to your family President Putin All the best to your family too --End o f Conversation-- COMFIDf lM'fIA b NW# 78134 Docid 34685315 U 'tS