U.S. President George W. Bush said on November 28 that he has discussed Georgia with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during talks in Hanoi at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this month.
?Precisely what we ought to do is help resolve the conflict and use our diplomats to convince people there is a better way forward than through violence. We haven’t seen violence yet. The idea is to head it off in the first place. I spoke to Vladimir Putin about this very subject when I saw him in the Far East last week. I know that the [Estonian] President has spoken with President Saakashvili as well. The tenor of the conversation appears to be improving to me, that people understand that the best way to resolve their differences is to sit down at the table and solve them diplomatically. And so we’ll continue to work along those lines,? Bush said.
He was speaking at a joint news conference with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in Tallinn.
?We sincerely hope that Russia will understand that a democratic state on its borders is not a danger to Russian security. And we hope Russia will understand that authoritarian states at its borders will not guarantee its own stability,? Estonian President Ilves said.
The Estonian President also said that support towards Georgia and Ukraine was among the issues discussed during the talks with President Bush.
?One of the main messages today was the message of freedom to those states who, like us, have chosen the way to democracy and freedom and will not bow to pressure from any of their neighbors, and by these countries we mean Georgia, Ukraine, the Balkan States. We should not hesitate to support these states. And we should not falter when any of our allies are losing hope or faith, and we will help them in every way we can,? President Ilves said.
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