Wednesday 7 July 2010

President Obama and President Medvedev discuss beef


President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (left, in white shirt) talk over burgers Thursday at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va.

"I have managed to dine with President Barack Obama in an interesting place which is typically American, probably is not quite healthy," Medvedev said later in the leaders' joint news conference.

"But it's very tasty," Medvedev allowed.

"Our daughters will never forget having tea in the Winter Garden of the Kremlin," Obama said. "And Mr. President, I hope you'll remember having a burger at Ray's Hell Burger today."

Before munching on beef, they talked turkey over a slew of serious issues.

Among them, they reaffirmed commitments to work more closely on intelligence and military matters, even as both nations' legislatures still work to approve the renewed nuke reduction treaties.

Medvedev is especially interested in expanding business ties, and Obama hailed a deal to sell U.S. poultry in Russia, admitting it's "odd when you're sitting in historic meetings with your Russian counterpart...talking about chicken."

Serious issues remain between the nations, but their leaders worked hard to show how much better relations are, joking about nukes and Twitter, which Obama uses and Medvedev signed onto yesterday.

"So we may be able to finally throw away those red phones that have been sitting around for so long," Obama quipped, an allusion to the Hot Line set up during the Cold War to avoid an accidental nuclear shootout.

Notice the irony..trying to squash beef over some burgers...nice!
nydailynews

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