President George W. Bush looks forward to working with new Russian President Dimity Medvedev and will soon telephone him to offer his congratulations, the White House said Wednesday. “He looks forward to working with him and wishes him the best on his new position,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said, as Medvedev became Russia's third president since the collapse of the Soviet Union, taking over from Vladimir Putin. “If we have good relations, as the president has had with President Putin, that allows you the ability to speak very frankly when we have concerns when it comes to democracy and human rights,” Perino told reporters. Perino noted that Bush and Medvedev met when Bush visited Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi in April. “They had a very good meeting,” and Bush “said he looked forward to working with him and to having a good relationship with him as he had with President Putin, where they can have a frank exchange of views, and also cooperate on issues such as the nuclear agreement that we signed yesterday,” Perino said. “It is important for our country to have a good relationship with Russia. That relationship is complex, but it is one where we can do a lot of good together,” Perino said. Bush and Medvedev will meet at the July summit of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries in Japan, Perino added.
