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Disarmament DocumentationUS-Russia Defence Ministers' Meeting, Washington, March 13US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, press conference, The Pentagon, Washington, March 13. Note: Minister Ivanov's remarks as translated during the press conference. Secretary Rumsfeld: It is a pleasure for me to welcome Minister Sergei Ivanov to the Pentagon on this, his first official visit as minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. ... The US and Russia do indeed have many common interests. We have a common interest in improved economic ties, a common interest in fighting terrorism and dealing with the new threats we both face in this dangerous new century. We have a common interest in working together to reduce offensive nuclear weapons, weapons that really are a legacy of past hostilities and which are really no longer needed when Russia and the US are basing our relationships on friendship, not on fear of mutual annihilation. ... Let me also say a few words about the Nuclear Posture Review: There's been some press discussion about leaks from the classified Nuclear Posture Review. Needless to say, whoever leaked it violated federal criminal law. First, the Nuclear Posture Review is not an operational planning document. It sets out prudent requirements for deterrence in the 21st century. Without getting into the classified details of the report, I can say that the Review says nothing about targeting any country with nuclear weapons. The United States targets no country on a day-to-day basis. With respect to Russia, I can say this: that the Russian Federation was briefed on the Nuclear Posture Review back in January. Minister Ivanov has been briefed personally, earlier this week. President Bush and President Putin have said many times that Russia and the United States are no longer adversaries. It is true. Both Minister Ivanov and I have reaffirmed this during our meetings during the past few days. Russia is, of course, recognized as having formidable nuclear capabilities, and Russia faces some strategic issues around its periphery. Our Review prudently takes this into account. The Review also notes that there is no longer any ideological source of conflict with Russia. The United States seeks a cooperative relationship with Russia that moves away from a mutual assured destruction of the past. And, because of this new relationship, the United States can prudently reduce the size of its operationally deployed strategic nuclear forces by some two thirds. If I may quote from an unclassified paragraph of that report: "To address Russia today as if it were the Soviet Union would preclude the more cooperative relationship that is sought by the United States." ... Minister Ivanov: ... I would like to thank my counterpart, Mr. Secretary, once again for the invitation to visit Washington for very interesting and productive discussions, which showed that we not only can but we should define ways to enhance the effectiveness or the efficiency of our relationships with the US in terms of strategic stability, in terms of fighting terrorism and in terms of...cooperation in the area of military relations and military and technical cooperation. ... The presidents of the two countries have assigned us a very clear-cut task, and that is to forge new strategic relationships between Russia and the US and to strengthen our partnership in the face of new threats and challenges which are emerging in the world. ... We fully realize that the current levels of the nuclear potentials of both Russia and the US are not in line with today's realities and should be cut radically. We also believe that there should be a legally binding document which would be comprehensive and understandable for the whole world and which would also reflect the transparency which we need to achieve between the two countries. And based on those objectives and tasks which we were assigned, I would like to see the best progress we can make in forging that document so that it could be completed and signed in May at the forthcoming summit meeting. By this time, I think that some specific results have been achieved. The US and Russian experts exchanged the drafts of what they realize to be a future agreement, and the issue of transparency was also clarified. In the course of the meetings and talks which we had, we have discussed the issues concerning combating terrorism, and nonproliferation and situations in some crisis areas of the world. And our intention is not to stop, and move further progress to make our positions closer regarding all the issues which I've just mentioned, given all the interests of the two countries are properly accounted for. ... Question: ... Russia has raised strong objections to the United States' plans to shelve some of the nuclear weapons which are planned under arms cuts... If the United States presses ahead with that move, would Russia follow suit and also shelve or store nuclear weapons, rather than destroying them? ... Ivanov: Well, as I mentioned, we base our positions, our attitudes on the principle of equal security. So all options are being discussed, and we will always try to inform the opposite party - our counterparts on the plans. And that's the essence of the talks which are underway now. ... Question: In your negotiations, Minister Ivanov, has the US side shown a willingness to meet Russian demands to destroy the warheads, rather than to store them? Ivanov: Well, I would address that question in the following way: No matter whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, we'll need to dispose of some of [our] nuclear warheads, no matter if we want it or not. Well, it is true that for some period of time, those warheads could be stored or shelved, but anyway, the time will inevitably come when those will have to be destroyed. And as a matter of principle, the same is true about delivery systems. ... Question: Would you agree to a legally binding document that he calls for? Rumsfeld: ... [T]he two presidents have agreed that they would like to have something that would go beyond their two presidencies. So some sort of a document of that type is certainly a likelihood. ... Source: Transcript - US, Russian Defense Chiefs Discuss Arms Reduction, US State Department (Washington File), March 13. © 2002 The Acronym Institute. |