By Scott Stearns
Rostock, Germany
14 July 2006

President Bush is wrapping up his visit to the former East Germany, and leaves Friday morning for Russia and the annual meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations.

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Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) and President Bush  
  
President Bush was the guest of honor at a feast of roast wild boar in the village of Trinwillershagen, population: less than 800.

The meal outside a former Communist Party meeting hall ends a day of talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel over how the international community should best respond to North Korean missile tests and Iran enriching uranium.

Those issues will follow President Bush and Chancellor Merkel to St. Petersburg Friday for the annual G8 summit. President Bush says they will try to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to back economic sanctions against Iran, if it does not accept a package of incentives to stop enriching uranium. "The truth of the matter is, diplomacy takes a lot of work, and there are different interests involved here," he said.

In bilateral meetings with President Putin before the start of the summit, President Bush says he will discuss concerns about press freedom and democracy in Russia, but will not scold the Russian leader, as Mr. Bush says nobody really likes to be lectured to a lot.

During his visit, President Bush will meet with civil society leaders involved with human rights, environmental protection and public health.

He and Mrs. Bush will place a basket of flowers at a monument to the defenders of Leningrad, commemorating those who withstood the city's 900-day siege by Nazis during the Second World War.