Obama Holds Presser With Medvedev -- Says U.S. 'Will Not Miss A Beat' In Afghanistan

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev touted U.S.-Russia relations at a joint news conference this afternoon -- and Obama insisted that his Afghanistan strategy remains on track, even after his firing yesterday of General Stanley McChrystal.

"We will not miss a beat because of the change of command," the president said.

Obama said he'll insist on "a unity of purpose" and "extraordinary performance moving forward" -- and said he never suggested that all U.S. troops would be out of Afghanistan by July 2011.

"We didn't say we'd be switching out the lights and closing the door behind us," Obama said. Instead, the president said, the plan has always been to conduct a review at year's end, and begin transitioning U.S. troops out of Afghanistan next summer.

The president also touted progress in U.S.-Russia relations, saying that they have made "significant progress and achieved concrete results."

Obama said it was in everyone's interest for Russia to join the World Trade Organization -- "This is something that we want to get resolved," he said -- and that his team had a "sense of urgency" in working to get technical issues sorted out by this fall.

Progress has already been made, Obama said, pointing to "our ability to get resolved a trade dispute around poultry, that is a multibillion export for the United States." That shows an "indication of seriousness" on the part of the Russians, he said. Medvedev said he hopes "not to lose momentum" on joining the WTO.

Medvedev also addressed Kyrgyzstan -- which he said had essentially been "split into parts" by ethnic violence. The Russian president warned that "radical elements" could rise to power in the strategically important country, but that the U.S. and Russia were coordinating on humanitarian aid efforts.

Before the news conference, the world leaders chowed down on burgers at Ray's Hell Burger in Virginia. That's the same restaurant Obama and Biden made a surprise visit to last year.

During the news conference, Medvedev described the burgers as "typically American." They're "not quite healthy" -- "but it is very tasty and you can feel the spirit of America."