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[Second Issue of the Day]
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Excerpt
TITLE: PRESS CONFERENCE WITH US AMBASSADOR ALEXANDER
VERSHBOW
[AIF NEWS AGENCY, 12:30, APRIL 30, 2002]
SOURCE: FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE (http://www.fednews.ru/)
Moderator: Good day, dear colleagues. Today our guest is the ambassador of the United States of America to Russia Alexander Vershbow. The occasion that brings us together this time is the forthcoming visit to Russia by President Bush of the US. Your Excellency, it is less than three weeks to go to Bush's visit and you are probably in a position to tell us about the program of the visit and how long the visit will last and what the expected results are.
Vershbow: Thank you very much, thank you for the invitation. I am starting in Russian, but perhaps it would be easier for me to speak --
Moderator: Well, Yevgeniya here will help us to translate the questions that will be asked in Russian or English.
Vershbow: Of course, we are looking forward to the visit of our President. It will be his first visit to Russia. And it is an important opportunity to expand our cooperation and of course to continue the transformation of our relations which was the objective of the first four meetings of our presidents. And I think that in future our countries can be regarded not only as partners, but even as allies, allies not only against the common enemies such as terrorism, but in promoting common values such as democracy, freedom, the supremacy of law and human rights.
We have a very tough agenda for this visit. Very important negotiations took place between our defense ministers yesterday on matters of disarmament and on broader cooperation in the field of safety. And these discussions between our foreign ministers will continue in Washington on Friday. I am flying to Washington tomorrow to take part in these negotiations.
But I must say that the economic part of our relations is becoming more and more important and we hope that there will be concrete results, the broadening of trade between our countries which as been at a very low level up until now and so as to speed up Russia's entry into the WTO, perhaps next year. The program of the visit --
Moderator: Could you tell us the date and the duration?
Vershbow: Yes, dates, of course. President Bush will arrive late in the evening on May 23. His first official day will be on May 24. There will be official negotiations, discussions at the Kremlin, of course. There will be an official lunch. And a press conference. And we hope that important documents will be signed. There may be some unofficial meetings in Moscow, too, and a family dinner between the Bushes and the Putins in the evening. On Saturday, May 25, the presidents will fly to St. Petersburg for a less formal program. Visits to museums, cultural landmarks and another cultural event maybe the visit to Mariinsky Theater.
From my information, President Putin would like to show his counterpart his native city and especially the White Nights. President Bush will end his visit on Sunday. There will be an event on Sunday morning, perhaps there will be a meeting on Saturday or Sunday with the students of St. Petersburg University. And then the President will fly to Paris. This is an overview of the program. It has not yet been totally agreed, but these are the highlights.
Moderator: Thank you. As you have mentioned, the final agreement is being prepared by the foreign ministers and the defense ministers, and German Gref has visited America. On what points in the agreement is compromise the most difficult to achieve and is there hope that by the start of the visit all these delicate issues will be hammered out?
Vershbow: You mean Gref's visit?
Moderator: No, I mean that the preparation of the final agreement you have mentioned is proceeding at all levels. And what points of the agreement are the most difficult?
Vershbow: All right, I'll continue in English.
Moderator: Whichever is more convenient to you.
Vershbow: On the questions relating to the reduction of nuclear arms we are making very good progress as the Minister of Defense Ivanov said yesterday. But there are some very complex questions still to be resolved and that will be the task of Secretary Powell and Foreign Minister Ivanov to try to resolve the primary issues.
As you know, there have been differences over how to carry out the reductions in the nuclear warheads. But we think that these questions can be worked out. We have made tremendous progress in developing new measures for transparency, verification or control over the reductions. I think the important thing is, of course, that both of our presidents have made very clear their determination to carry out these very radical reductions.
So, of course, there is total agreement on the goal and just some details to work out. And I am hopeful that this will be an agreement that breaks all records for speed with which it has been negotiated. And there are, of course, many other issues that we are discussing including economic questions. We've had some difficulties in the last few months over some trade disputes. We, of course, were very disturbed by how the ban on American poultry products was imposed. And I must say there continues to be some questions about the Russian side's readiness to fully reopen the door to American products.
We know the Russian side has had concerns about President Bush's decision on steel. I think the visit of Minister Gref a few weeks ago however helped at least to reduce our differences, and we are still working on that question. But I think that these disputes should not obscure the fact that we now have a great opportunity to expand trade and investment between our two countries. That's based on progress of economic reform in Russia and the establishment of a more predictable investment climate.
We hope that the summit will focus American businesses' attention on the new opportunities in the Russian market.
Moderator: Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador. I must say you played a big role in preventing the door to American poultry from being slammed shut. And we hope that this conflict will be resolved.
Perhaps a somewhat unexpected question. In Russia, when people go to somebody else's place they usually prepare some presents for the hosts. Even President Putin announced the closure of the Russian military base at Lourdes and Cam Ranh ahead of his visit to the US. What pleasant surprises is President Bush preparing for Russian people? Perhaps you know something about this.
Vershbow: It's a very interesting question, but at the moment I am not aware of anything quite on the same scale. I think both of our presidents of course are focusing more on the long term. I think the real challenge is to overcome the old thinking from the Cold War period and to recognize that in maybe 99 percent of the issues on our agenda we have common interests. And once we recognize that, we will have to act upon it by working together to solve a lot of the world's problems.
Moderator: Thank you very much. Let's allow our journalists to ask their questions.
Q: IRNA. Mr. Ambassador, of course during the visit the two presidents will discuss international problems, the most global ones. What will be the US position on a possible move against Iraq? Have you discussed this issue with Russia? And will be the US position on the Middle East, I mean Palestine?
Vershbow: Okay, first of all I think it's important to stress that President Bush has not made any decisions about attacking Iraq, nor has a proposal even been put on his desk. But of course it's no secret, we are becoming increasing impatient with Saddam Hussein. He has for more than a decade consistently refused to implement UN Security Council resolutions. Those resolutions make clear that he must abandon all efforts to build weapons of mass destruction. For four years he has refused to admit international inspectors that could help confirm his compliance with his obligation.
So our patience is running out, particularly given Saddam's destabilizing behavior in the region. The fact that Saddam is providing rewards to the families of suicide bombers who attack Israel is just an example of his support for terrorism. So we want to work with Russia to put maximum pressure on Saddam Hussein. And we are working closely with Russia in the UN Security Council toward this goal.
But if Saddam continues to reject the demands of the international community, that community may need to act, and we hope we will act together. And I believe working with Russia is possible because Russia has no more interest than we in allowing Saddam Hussein to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
As for the Middle East, Secretary of State Powell is continuing to work very hard to try to reduce the violence and restart political negotiations. There have been a few glimmers of progress in the last few days with the agreement to end the siege of Mr. Arafat. But I think what is needed now is renewed efforts to move toward a political solution on the only basis that is possible. The only possible basis for that is two states. And what we need is a clear signal from the Palestinian side, including the extremists, that they accept a two-state solution.
Because there are serious doubts whether the Palestinians accept Israel or are determined to destroy it. The initiative by Saudi Arabia which accepts two states is an important step forward, and President Bush had good discussions with Prince Abdullah about this.
Moderator: Thank you, next question please.
Q: RIA Novosti. I'd like to clarify one thing. You said the main disagreement over strategic offensive weapons concerns how to solve the problem of multiple warheads. If this really so?
Vershbow: How to implement the reductions? What will be the methods and the definitions. And the question of what is called the unit of account.
Q: RIA Novosti. What is the status of this document now? How many pages are there in this document? And how many documents are we talking about, one, two or three?
Vershbow: Well, the document on strategic arms reductions will be a very short one. It will be either a treaty or another form of agreement, but in any case, a legally binding agreement. The main question is whether it will be a treaty which on our side only goes to the Senate or whether it's an executive agreement which will have to be approved by both houses of Congress. But the document will be short because we intend to preserve many provisions of the START agreement as the foundation particularly for verification and transparency.
There will be other documents that we hope will be finished by the summit. One of these will be a political declaration on the new strategic relationship. And this will include a plan of action, a plan for joint action in a number of areas, including the fight against terrorism, anti-missile defense as well as on economic and political subjects.
Q: The newspaper Zavtra. There is a known principle, "What is good for General Motors is good for the United States". Can it be said that today what is good for America is good for the whole world?
Vershbow: I wouldn't go so far as to say that. What I've heard recently, "what's good for Gazprom is good for Russia". But certainly we don't claim to be always right in the world, but we do believe that we do stand for the values of peace, freedom and democracy that I shared by the majority of countries, including Russia, along with the majority of other countries.
That's why I think we do have common interests in defending those values, particularly at a time when we face very serious threats to our very civilization. But to have common interests doesn't mean always to agree on the best way to pursue them. There may be areas where our interests are not exactly the same. But we try to narrow our differences through diplomacy and through summit meetings and I think we are making a lot of progress.
Q: Mr. Ambassador, what in your view impedes the establishment of normal economic relations with Russia and the establishment of what you called a warmer investment climate for the American business?
Vershbow: I think some of the obstacles for American business are also obstacles to Russian business, particularly new small business. These are some of the things that President Putin highlighted in his Address. The excess of regulations and bureaucratic interference with business, the lack of fully reliable and impartial legal institutions that can defend the rights of investors. All of these things are moving in the right direction in Russia, but there is a long way to go, for example, in implementing the very impressive judicial reform of the last two years.
The key thing that all businessmen look for is predictability. Because if they put a lot of money into the Russian market that investment will be protected and they will be able to earn reasonable profits without facing political or other kinds of pressure. Of course, there are other things that sometimes discourage investors such as overly high tariffs or customs fees, poor infrastructure that makes it difficult to transport goods in and out of Russia, but I think the key thing is predictability which is ultimately a question of the legal system.
But I think Russia's tremendous wealth both in terms of natural resources and intellectual strengths of its people make it a very promising partner for the United States in the economic sphere if these obstacles can be overcome.
Q: I've got a question about the political side of talks between the two presidents. There've been some very positive statements in the last week both from Minister of Fuel and Energy Yusufov and from officials at LUKoil and YUKOS about the possibility of a strategic energy alliance of some sort being formed between Russia and the United States. I wonder if you're both regarding the future of oil that Russia could supply to the United States providing a reliable alternative to the Middle East and the possibility of US companies investing in Russian energy. Could you make some comment about whether you are planning to sign some documents about energy alliance or whether that will be included in the overall political doctrines you've already mentioned to us.
Vershbow: I'll say first of all that the energy sector is perhaps the most promising area for expanding trade and investment in the short term. The two biggest investments to date are, American investments to date are in the energy sector. The CPC, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, and Exxon-Mobil putting a huge amount, billions of dollars into the Sakhalin-1 project.
There is more. So I think there will be some reflection at the summit of the potential for the big expansion in US-Russian cooperation in the energy field. Whether this will be a separate statement or a part of a large statement is not yet decided.
Moderator: What is the exact names of the projects?
Vershbow: Sakhalin-1. And the first one is KTK, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium. That is a pipeline that delivers oil from Kazakhstan to Novorossiisk. It's a very high-tech project which is profitable both for Kazakhs who produce the oil and for Russia which provides transit.
Moderator: Thank you very much.
Q: Georgian Television. Will the two presidents at the summit discuss the situation in Georgia after the appearance of American specialists there? And if yes, what exactly will they discuss? Perhaps they will divide Georgia between themselves or maybe do something else. And do you believe it possible that the interests of Russia in Georgia may clash, I mean the interests of Russia in the US clash in Georgia.
Vershbow: I would very much expect that the situation in Georgia and in the Caucasus will be discussed between the two presidents. This is something that we discuss on a continuing basis with our Russian friends. Just last week we had the Deputy Secretary of State here for working group on counterterrorism. And this was among the subjects that were addressed.
I think there is now better Russian understanding of the nature of the program that we are carrying out on Georgian territory. Namely the training and equipping of the Georgian armed forces so that they can better fight against the terrorist threat.
We are very much committed to consulting closely with our Russian friends that there are no misunderstandings, nor surprises. We expect the same from the Russian side. There were some misunderstandings among the actions of some Russian troops in the Kodori Valley a week and a half ago, and those concerns have been alleviated. We will continue to remind our Russian friends of the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.
But I think we do have a common interest in helping Georgia fight terrorism, and we have a common interest in finding a political solution to the Abkhazian dispute. Last week's talks confirmed that we are working together to get both sides to begin negotiations on the basis on the plan put forward by the United Nations. That plan would of course provide for Abkhazia's reintegration in Georgia as an autonomous region....
Q: Over the last few months the US government has been actively seeking to cooperate with the Russian government on various issues ranging from the fight against international terrorism to Russia's accession to the WTO. At the same time, ordinary Russian citizens have seen the tightening of the official US position on such issues as business trips, visits to relatives, friends. Does this mean that the US intentionally puts the focus on contacts with the Russian business and political elite and consistently limits contacts with ordinary citizens?
Vershbow: Well, we certainly believe it's important to create new opportunities to expand contacts between our people. Our embassy as done a lot over the last eight or nine months to simplify the procedures required to obtain a visa. You don't see long lines outside the embassy any more. But in fact we are issuing more visas. Both -- particularly in terms of the percentage of visa applications that we approve. We have made the submission of documents much simpler by using the services of Federal Express rather than requiring people to spend hours waiting in line at the embassy. We have established a policy of establishing many visas without requiring a personal interview.
But I think beyond those issues, there is certainly a need to create opportunities for people to travel, to participate in exchange programs, and for business people to meet and make deals. We've encouraged the Russian government to consider reducing the cost of visas to come to Russia, which would enable us to lower our prices as well.
Of course our law still requires policy of reciprocity when it comes to those prices. But I think, to come back to the summit meeting, we hope it will be a kind of impulse for more trade, more contacts among businessmen and among simple citizens. The presence of our president here will focus a lot of the American mass media on the changes in Russia, and particularly to see that some of the images they still may have in their minds, the confusion and instability of the 90s are out of date.
Q: PRIMA Agency. Members of the president's information directorate held a press conference yesterday and said they had handed over to your embassy documents concerning Andrei Samorodov who had received political asylum in the US by saying he had fought in Chechnya on the Russian side and witnessed crimes. This evidence was published by the New York Times. Now the president's information directorate and the Defense Ministry have accused him of perjury, and a representative of the information directorate said the Russian side would press for the recognition of his testimony as perjury. So my question is, what will happen to these documents, where will they go? And second, will this story with Samorodov affect the possibility for Russian citizens to obtain political asylum in the US in the future? And third, may this issue be discussed in any way at the summit?
Vershbow: I know the case. We have not yet received the documents that were promised in that press conference. So I can't at this point comment on the nature of the information. Clearly, if this individual made false statements, it's a matter of concern in many different ways. It does raise of course questions about the basis on which he received political asylum.
But until we study the case, I cannot say whether we agree that these were false statements or not. We need to get all the facts. I should praise the New York Times for after printing the first story with his allegations, printing a story which admits that, there are now doubts about the allegations. This is an example for the Russian press sometimes. Sometimes we see charges, sometimes somewhat crazy charges about America on the front page, but the facts either do not appear at all or appear on the back page.
But I don't think this is going to have any direct effect on the summit meeting. I would say that whether or not Mr. Samorodov's charges are true or false, we still do have concerns about some of the actions of Russian forces in Chechnya. They are based on many different sources of information including responsible Russian organizations like Memorial.
Q: AiF. Since September 11 of last year, we have seen every growing cooperation between Russian and American special services. In this connection, are there plans to sign some secret protocols at the summit to step up the fight in this field?
Vershbow: If such secret agreements were being reached I couldn't tell you about them as they would probably be printed in invisible ink. But seriously speaking, I think the cooperation between our special services in the war against terrorism has been one of the more remarkable and positive developments in our relationship. And I should add that I think both sides are very satisfied with both the quantity and the quality of the information being exchanged. This was confirmed by the representatives of the special services who attended this working group last week on counterterrorism. But I can't give the names of those individuals.
Q: The Wall Street Journal. I'd just like to ask you what do you think the probability is that the US will drop the Jackson-Vanik amendment and also recognize Russia as a market economy before the summit?
Vershbow: The Jackson-Vanik issue unfortunately has been complicated by the poultry dispute. Of course, there is wide recognition in the Congress that the original purpose of the Jackson-Vanik amendment has been fulfilled. Russia is now a country that has freedom of emigration, and more generally the rights of Jews and other religions are protected. But the issue that is connected with Jackson-Vanik is normal trade relations. And unfortunately the conduct of the Russian side in this whole poultry dispute has raised serious concerns and in both houses of Congress and raised questions whether now is the time to give Russia normal trading status.
I mentioned earlier that there are still problems namely with prompt issuance of new import licenses to Russian companies, that is the lack of prompt issuance. I think for that reason, it is now increasingly doubtful whether the Congress will be ready before the summit to take the necessary action on Jackson-Vanik.
The question of granting Russia the status of a market economy is now being reviewed by the Department of Commerce and that review is expected to be finished before the summit. I can't say with certainty what the result will be, but there will be I think a decision very soon.
Moderator: Thank you very much. And we will have one last question.
Q: NHK. At their press conference yesterday Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Ivanov both said that whether or not an agreement on strategic offensive arms reductions would be signed would have to be decided by the presidents of the two countries. This creates the impression that there are very serious disagreements and no agreement may be reached before the summit and the presidents will not be able to sign it. Is this so? Is there such a possibility?
Vershbow: Of course we have the expression "nothing is agreed till everything is agreed". And we still do have issues that are not yet resolved in this negotiation. So it is certainly a possibility that the agreement will not be finished by the summit, but I believe both ministers were more optimistic in their statements.
I think both presidents have made very clear to their ministers and to their bureaucracies that they want this agreement finished. As a senior chinovnik, I understand my marching orders.
Moderator: Thank you very much, that was the last question. We thank Mr. Ambassador for finding time to answer our questions, and I do hope that this is not the last time we see you in this room, I hope for the success of the upcoming meeting and for the signing of effective agreements. Thank you.
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