Disarmament Documentation

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Russia's safeguarding nuclear material, April 18, 2005

'No "Huge Problem" Safeguarding Russian Nuclear Material, Rice Says', US Department of State, Washington File, April 21, 2005.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Vilnius, Lithuania)
April 21, 2005

INTERVIEW

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
With James Rosen of Fox News

April 21, 2005
Vilnius, Lithuania

...

QUESTION: What percentage of Russian nuclear materials does the United States consider to be securely under lock and key?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I'm not able to go into numbers here. Let's just say that we have worked hard since the collapse of the Soviet Union to secure as much Russian nuclear material as possible. We --

QUESTION: Is even 50 percent?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, James, I'm not going to go into numbers. I will say that we have been working as hard as possible and as quickly as possible and accelerated the timeline in the Energy Department programs to secure nuclear materials, not just in Russia but in general in the space that was created by the former Soviet Union. We have very active programs to do that. And we and the Russians have been working on this problem, but I don't want to go into specific numbers.

QUESTION: So you can't even assure me that even half of the nuclear arsenal of that country is under lock and key?

SECRETARY RICE: James, I'm not going to get into numbers. I don't think that people should believe that we have a huge problem with a lack of security of nuclear material. We do have concerns that in the post-Soviet period, and up till now that are being met through the programs that we have for trying to secure those materials.

QUESTION: Let's switch gears a bit. Do you and President Bush still believe that the new Iraqi constitution will be submitted on time?

SECRETARY RICE: We certainly believe that it has to be submitted on time because the one thing that we've learned really about Iraq over the last couple of years of now working with the Iraqis is that everybody says that they won't make certain timetables and they do make those timetables. They do it in their own way. They obviously are engaged right now in a very intensive political process. But it's amazing the degree to which every deadline, every schedule, they've met all the way from the time of getting a Transitional Administrative Law written, to the transfer of sovereignty, to holding elections, which everyone said couldn't happen on January 30th. Well, they did have them on January 30th. And I'm quite confident that the Iraqis understand the importance of getting a constitution done.

QUESTION: There is, of course, a sovereign government in Iraq now so the United States is by no means calling the shots there with regard to the criminal justice system. But if you could please tell me what your understanding is about the conditions under which Saddam Hussein is being held, his access to legal counsel and the timetable for whenever he is going to get a trial.

SECRETARY RICE: Well, he is being held, according to our information, humanely. He is being visited --

QUESTION: By whom?

SECRETARY RICE: He has been visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross. He is also able to have legal counsel, as anyone in that position would.

The Iraqis have not established a firm timetable, and I think everyone understands that this is a trial that needs to be done right, and we're trying to help them in terms of the preparation, not of the substance of the trial so much but in terms of getting ready to do a trial that can withstand international scrutiny. They have other international experts who are helping them on that. And I'm quite sure as soon as the trial is ready that they will put him on trial.

QUESTION: Is there any reason to doubt that he is mentally fit to stand trial?

SECRETARY RICE: I have no way to make that judgment, but I have also no information that he's not mentally fit to stand trial...

QUESTION: One last question on government and politics, and then we'll move to my off-the-charts questions, which I know you cherish (laughter).

It's been almost a year since the last round of six-party talks with North Korea. Every time you're asked about North Korea your answer basically involves exhorting the North Koreans to return to these talks. They haven't done so in almost a year. They were desultory when they were last held. There are a lot of people who, with all due respect, Madame Secretary, would simply say that this policy is not working, this approach is not satisfying American aims. Why should anyone take it seriously when you next tell us, "We urge the North Koreans to return to these talks"?

SECRETARY RICE: I think people should look at what we've achieved by having the six-party framework. The North Koreans would like nothing better than to be one-on-one, so to speak, with the United States throughout this process, where they can negotiate and threaten and get the United States to respond and then go to others to get similar responses and to sort of divide and conquer in the international community. They aren't able to do that in a six-party framework. They have in a six-party framework to face five states that have told them that they have to get rid of their nuclear weapons if they want to have a better future. They're --

QUESTION: Well, what framework is there if they -- there haven't been those talks in a year.

SECRETARY RICE: But the framework is still there because --

QUESTION: What framework?

SECRETARY RICE: The framework is still there because the five countries of the six-party talks are saying very clearly to the North Koreans you cannot have international acceptability and your nuclear weapons programs, and it's costing them.

QUESTION: How?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, when the President of South Korea was recently in Germany he talked about the fact that there could never be full development of economic relations with the North while the North developed a nuclear weapons program.

QUESTION: But they're building weapons. They're building bombs. Our aims are not being met; don't you agree?

SECRETARY RICE: The North Koreans are saying all kinds of things. Our aim is, indeed, to get the North Koreans to abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions, but we're only going to do that in a context in which they face the entire international community, not just us. That context is now there.

Now, we reserve the right and the possibility of going to the Security Council should it be necessary, of putting other measures in place should it be necessary. I think the North Koreans are not confused about the fact that the United States maintains a significant deterrent against North Korean nuclear weapons if, indeed, they have gotten to that state. I think they are not confused about the fact that we have a very strong military alliance on the Korean Peninsula that is actively deterring North Korean aggression.

So we are in a process that has put the framework in place in which we can resolve this problem. But let no one be confused: The North Korean threats and their attempts to get attention for them also have to be understood in the context of a very strong deterrent on the Korean Peninsula.

QUESTION: And how long do you stay with this?

SECRETARY RICE: We'll see. I don't like trying to give timelines because you should always assess these situations. We are absolutely willing, when the time is right, when we believe that we've exhausted the possibilities of the framework that we're in, to go to the Security Council. But again --

QUESTION: How will you know when it's exhausted?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we will know when we've had the discussions with our allies and with our colleagues in the six-party talks when it's time to do that.

But I just want to reiterate to you: The North Koreans are not confused about the security situation on the Korean Peninsula. There is a strong deterrent on the Korean Peninsula. There is a strong effort to monitor North Korean activity. There is a Proliferation Security Initiative that has the potential to intercept suspicious cargo. It is not as if we are sitting idly by waiting for the North Koreans to come back to the six-party talks. That's the best course for what the North Koreans would like, which is acceptance into the international community and therefore the possibility to get economic assistance. But we have a strong deterrent. Our allies -- our alliances are strong in the region. Security is being maintained...

Source: US Department of State, Washington File, http://usinfo.state.gov.

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