Disarmament Documentation
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Russian Foreign Minister Visit to Washington, May 2-6
Remarks by Foreign Minister Ivanov, May 3
'Transcript of the Press Conference with the Russian Foreign
Minister Igor Ivanov after the Meeting with President George Bush
of the United States, Washington, May 3, 2002; Russian Foreign
Ministry transcript.
Minister Ivanov: In the course of the talk we have just
had with President Bush of the United States, the main attention
was paid to the issues connected with the preparation of the
President's official visit to the Russian Federation. Moscow and
Washington attach a special significance to the visit. It should
open a new page in the development of our bilateral relations.
Thoroughgoing negotiations are to be held by the Presidents of
Russia and the US on the entire range of bilateral relations as
well as on the main international and global problems. The whole
range of strategic stability issues will be at the focus of
attention. The treaty on strategic offensive weapons reduction as
well as a joint declaration on the new framework of strategic
relations between our countries are being prepared for signing. The
declaration should fix the principles on which Russia and the US
will build their bilateral relations in the longer perspective. A
package of bilateral statements on individual issues of bilateral
relations and international problems is expected to be adopted. The
US President has said that he is looking forward to his visit to
the Russian Federation and to the talks with the Russian President
and is sure that this visit will mark the start of a new
cooperation between our countries. This is also the approach in
Moscow.
Question: Does the US President expect to sign the START
treaty during his visit?
Ivanov: The US President has confirmed that he is
interested in signing the important documents which are being
prepared in the course of his visit. I would like to stress that
the START treaty is of fundamental significance not only for our
two countries, but for strategic stability in the world. And that
is how we see it.
Question: Will issues of anti-missile defense be
reflected in the documents, notably the START Treaty?
Ivanov: As you know, in Genoa [last year] the two
Presidents issued a joint statement on the interconnection between
offensive and defensive weapons. That provision will also be
reflected in the documents being prepared.
Question: The two Presidents expressed their interest in
signing the documents, but will the ministers manage to prepare
them?
Ivanov: If the Presidents are expressing their interest,
it is the task of the ministers to do everything so that this
interest is translated into practice. We hope that the documents
will be ready.
Question: Will it be a treaty or an agreement?
Ivanov: That is still under discussion. We believe that
considering the character of the document, a treaty will be the
most acceptable.
Question: How great is the probability that the treaty
will be ready by the time of the visit?
Ivanov: We assume that the probability is high. We will
do everything possible toward that end.
Remarks by US Secretary of State, May 3
Comments to the press by US Secretary of State Colin Powell
and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, The State Department, May
3; US State Department transcript.
Secretary Powell: [A]s you might expect, we had a long
discussion today on the strategic framework. We have made progress
toward the completion of our work on a strategic framework
document. There are still some outstanding issues, but I think I
can say that we are both encouraged by the progress that we made
today. ...
Question: Mr. Secretary, is a traditional arms control
agreement emerging? Have you decided what to do about the warheads?
Will there be further talks with Mr. Bolton, or someone of that
stature be continuing the talks before the summit?
Powell: Yes. We are working to codify what we have
announced and agreed to in a legally binding document, and we are
hard at work on that document. And there will be some additional
work, both by the Foreign Minister and me, as well as with our
defense ministers, I expect, as well as Ambassador Mamedov and Mr.
Bolton. So we're hard at work, and as I said earlier, I'm
encouraged by the progress that we have made today.
Question: One quick one. Treaty, executive agreement? Or
is that still up in the air?
Powell: We haven't decided yet. Both a treaty and an
executive agreement are legally binding in international law. It's
a political judgment we'll be making in the days ahead. ...
Question: Have you agreed to counting rules? Is that one
of the areas that you've made progress on?
Powell: We have made progress on all areas, but what I'd
rather not do is single out where the remaining differences are.
I'm encouraged by the progress we've made. And remaining
differences are there, and we needed to spend more time working on
them and discussing them to see if we can resolve them in time for
the Moscow summit. If we can, fine. And if we're unable to, the
work will continue. But I am encouraged.
Question: [I]s there any doubt in your mind that this
summit will take place later this month and there won't be some
kind of codified agreement on strategic arms?
Powell: [W]e're going to have a successful summit. There
are many items on the agenda in which we have agreement, not just
the strategic framework issue, and hopefully if the work continues
at the pace that we have seen it in recent days, we might be there
for the two presidents to sign an agreement. But, once again, there
are outstanding issues that we have to work on.
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© 2002 The Acronym Institute.
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