| |
 |
Bush gets Russian minister's name wrong
|
US President George W Bush demonstrated his well-known problem with foreign dignitaries' names on Saturday, getting the Russian defence minister wrong.
In a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin after their first face-to-face meeting, the US leader welcomed moves to increase defence dialogue between Washington and Moscow.
"I was glad that we were able to begin a constructive dialogue between our secretary of defence, Donald Rumsfeld, and the Russian defence secretary Andrei Ivanov," he said.
Ivanov's first name is Sergei.
Bush made no mention during his summit with Putin of his confusion in 1999 of Slovenia, where the meeting was held, and Slovakia, another nearby ex-communist NATO candidate.
But protestors reminded him of it, some of them holding banners reading "Welcome to Slovakia."
|
|
|
|