QUESTION: You met yesterday with President Putin. Have your perceptions of him, what kind of man he is, what kind of leader he is, how committed to democracy he is, at all changed over time?
SECRETARY RICE: I believe that this is a strong leader for Russia. He is someone who cares deeply about his country. He's actually quite easy to talk to. He is willing to talk about difficult subjects and does it without being defensive. And he is someone who obviously wants his country to succeed. We haven't always agreed about the future course of Russia, but there is no doubt that this man is a patriot, he cares deeply about his people, deeply about his country, and I think is trying to do his best to take Russia into a better future.
QUESTION: What percentage of Russian nuclear materials does the United States consider to be securely under lock and key?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not able to go into numbers here. Let's just say that we have worked hard since the collapse of the Soviet Union to secure as much Russian nuclear material as possible. We --
QUESTION: Is even 50 percent?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, James, I;m not going to go into numbers. I will say that we have been working as hard as possible and as quickly as possible and accelerated the timeline in the Energy Department programs to secure nuclear materials, not just in Russia but in general in the space that was created by the former Soviet Union. We have very active programs to do that. And we and the Russians have been working on this problem, but I don;t want to go into specific numbers.
QUESTION: So you can't even assure me that even half of the nuclear arsenal of that country is under lock and key?
SECRETARY RICE: James, I’m not going to get into numbers. I don’t think that people should believe that we have a huge problem with a lack of security of nuclear material. We do have concerns that in the post-Soviet period and up till now that are being met through the programs that we have for trying to secure those materials.
One interesting cross-cultural note. It seems that Rice's visit to Moscow may have produced a different reaction among Russians than among Americans. For example, last night my Russian teacher criticized Rice for going on the air with Echo Moscow radio without a translator. He thought it was bad that she made mistakes. Where my attitude, as an American, was that it was good that she was trying to speak Russian. We say, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." But, in Russia, mistakes have often been fatal...
