Colin Powell In Russia, Kazakhstan & Germany

IN THIS BULLETIN:
- Joint Press Conference with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan
- Remarks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Following Their Meeting
- Press Availability with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer
- Press Briefing with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

Joint Press Conference with President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Astana, Kazakhstan) For Immediate Release December 10, 2001

Joint Press Conference U.S. Secretary Of State Colin L. Powell and Nursultan Nazarbayev, President Of The Republic Of Kazakhstan At The Presidential Administration Building

Astana, Kazakhstan December 9, 2001

PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV: Dear ladies and gentlemen, I welcome the first visit of the Secretary of State of the United States to Kazakhstan in our new capital, Astana, on the eve of our 10th anniversary celebration of independence. I also welcome members of his delegation.

During the years since independence, we have observed a good dynamic of bilateral cooperation with the United States based on the Charter of Democratic Partnership between our countries. Major American companies work in Kazakhstan today and make large investments. During 10 years of independence, out of the $40 billion that has been invested in the CIS, $13 billion has been invested in Kazakhstan. And one third of this money is from investments by American companies. So our economic cooperation has a very solid basis. The huge oil and gas resources of Kazakhstan and diversification of supply routes to world markets, in which we have actively cooperated with the Government of the United States of America, have yielded positive results. One happy event is the completion of the North Caspian oil pipeline (CPC).

The horrible events that occurred in the United States on September 11 were a tragedy for the American people. I think a common understanding of the shared danger of terrorism -- especially for a Kazakhstan closely located to this region -- brings our countries closer together. The day after tomorrow will be three months after that act, and these three months have changed the world in terms of international relations and political alignments. It has become clear that it is impossible to be safe from terrorism. It is necessary to struggle together, and from the first few days, Kazakhstan announced that it would be in a coalition with those who struggle against it by all means at its disposal. We have kept our word. We are following our obligations as determined by UN resolutions as well as our agreement with the United States. Kazakhstan has a common position with America on the post-war rehabilitation of Afghanistan so that it can become a friendly and peaceful state.

We held very detailed negotiations with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on all questions of our relations between our states in terms of economic, political, military, and technical cooperation -- and of course, in the struggle against terrorism.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mr. President, for your warm welcome. It is a great pleasure for me to be here as you begin to celebrate the tenth anniversary of your independence. I bring you greetings from President Bush and the American people on this occasion, and I have also extended to the President an invitation for him to visit President Bush on the 21st of this month.

As the President indicated, we had a thorough discussion of all the issues that define and structure our strategic partnership and relationship. We did focus on the campaign against terrorism, and especially the campaign in Afghanistan. I thanked the President for all the support that we have been provided -- political, diplomatic, and military in the form of overflight clearances and the offering for our use of Kazakhstan bases. We focused on the importance of the next phases of this campaign in Afghanistan -- the humanitarian and reconstruction phase -- and I was pleased that the President indicated a willingness to participate fully in humanitarian efforts, as well as in the reconstruction phase with the use of Kazakhstan's facilities, infrastructure, bases, and especially technical people from Kazakhstan who could help the Afghans build their new country.

I just want to thank the President again for his hospitality. Thank you, Mr. President.

AMBASSADOR BOUCHER: We can start the questions in the back there. If anybody has one.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you have talked about the strategic opportunities from the anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan. And there is nothing more strategic to Kazakhstan than whether it will become a major exporter of oil and natural gas in the future. Is there anything about this campaign and the prospective pacification of Afghanistan and the prospective rapprochement between the West and Iran that would cause you to rethink --as the Kazaks would apparently like the United States and the American oil companies to do -- the preferred routing of its hydrocarbon products out of the country, perhaps through Iran, perhaps through Afghanistan?

And for President Nazarbayev -- the United States is now trying to draw Russia into a profound partnership with NATO. Would you give us your assessment of the prospect of NATO becoming an organization called "at 20" with Russia sitting as an equal partner?

SECRETARY POWELL: Based on the discussions we have had this morning and also the discussions I had with the American Chamber of Commerce earlier this morning, I come away even more persuaded of the critical importance that Kazakhstan will play in satisfying the energy needs of West in future years. The two pipeline projects that are in completion and underway seem to me to indicate that there will be stability with respect to supply of fuel and stability with respect to these two projects going forward. And I see nothing in the post-September 11 period that would suggest that we should rethink that.

PRESIDENT NAZERBAYEV: First, with your permission, I will answer the question addressed to the Secretary of State. Kazakhstan's export opportunities are of vital importance. The Northern Caspian oil pipeline that we launched gives Kazakhstan the opportunity to export up to 48 billion tons. For this purpose, the Tengiz oil field will be used. It has a reserve of a billion tons. By the end of 2005, the exploitation of Kashagan -- the world's biggest oil field -- will begin, and in 2015, we forecast that Kazakhstan will export 150 million tons. The domestic demand will be 20 million tons of crude. Along with this oil, up to 80 billion cubic meters of gas will be extracted. This is why multiple pipeline routes are extremely important for us. That is why we politically supported the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline.

There is an opportunity to transport up to 20 million tons of oil via the Caspian Sea without the construction of a pipeline from Kazakhstan to Baku, but frankly speaking, the investors who work in the oil field consider the Iran-Persian Gulf route to be the best. I think that the Secretary of State deliberately skirted the question in order not to raise any additional questions. This is not only my point of view, but also the opinion of several companies, including American ones. We have a contract to build a pipeline to Western China. We are interested in many options.

As for Russia's desire to be a partner of NATO, recently in Moscow we discussed in detail with Putin all the topics related to his visit to the United States and consulted each other as our countries usually do. As you remember, the Soviet Union in 1954 applied to become a NATO member. But there was a problem at that time, as far as I remember, with the occupation of a part of Austria. There was also something else of which the Soviet Union was accused, and it didn't work. Now, when there is no Cold War, no confrontation between the West and the East, Russia's membership in NATO will have a calming effect. I consider that the policy of excluding Russia from deliberation of global problems is not beneficial, not correct for the West and the world as a whole. It's a big country, a big power. It must be involved in all of these processes. Everyone will gain from that, including Kazakhstan. We are following the Oriental proverb that says: "It's impossible to stop an elephant by grabbing him by his leg."

QUESTION: This is for Secretary Powell. As we know, in two days the U.S. Congress will consider granting former Soviet Republics "market economy" status and in terms of economic development, Kazakhstan is ahead of many CIS countries. A year and a half ago, the EU recognized Kazakhstan as having a market economy. Will the U.S. Administration be in favor of Congress granting this status?

SECRETARY POWELL: I honestly do not know whether Congress is prepared to act on this Tuesday or not. My view is that Kazakhstan has made great progress. It may not have met all the standards that have been put out there yet, but I think that if it continues to move in the direction it has moved in recent years, we should see all these things fall in place in due course.

Thank you.

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Remarks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Following Their Meeting

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Moscow, Russia) For Immediate Release December 10, 2001

Remarks by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov Following Their Meeting

The Kremlin Moscow, Russia December 10, 2001

Foreign Minister Ivanov: Dear ladies and gentlemen, very substantial and intensive talks between the President of Russia, Mr. Putin, and Secretary Powell took place. During these talks, key problems of U.S.-Russian relations and acute topics of mutual relations were discussed. This meeting was a logical development of the recent negotiations during the official visit of President Putin to the U.S. Moscow and Washington are satisfied that the positive impetus provide to the U.S.-Russian relations during the summit providing some results. The broadest evidence of this is the joint effort of our countries in combating terrorism. An active political dialogue is under way on the highest level in the first place and other levels, too. We are expanding cooperation at the international arena. Positive trends can be seen in the development of trade and economic relations. As was stated during the talks of the President with the State Secretary of the United States, both countries will do joint and mutual efforts to stipulate, fix, and step up the positive trends. We are convinced that this meets the interests of our countries and the stability and security of the whole world.

Great attention was paid to the issue of strategic stability. Russia proceeds from this option that without losing time, it is necessary to formalize now the results that were achieved during the recent Russian-U.S. summit in America. First of all, it is related to the expressed intentions to make cuts in nuclear offensive weapons and the relevant legal formalization of this arrangement, given adequate control and transparency. And we believe it would be politically right to set for ourselves the task to formalize this arrangement by the forthcoming visit by the President of the United States to Russia, which is scheduled for the middle of next year. We have also started the issues related to the ABM Treaty of 1972. The positions of the sides remain unchanged.

A lot of attention was paid to the issues of coordination of our efforts in the field of combating terrorism. First of all, the joint efforts were considered, given the leading role of the United Nations, as regards the formation of new bodies of authority in Afghanistan after the defeat of the Taliban, especially in the economic and humanitarian fields. We have also considered the consideration that is of great concern to us, that is the Middle East situation. Russia and the U.S. are co-sponsors of the Middle East settlement and we have close interaction in this regard and we will do our best to find a way out of this dangerous crisis.

We have exchanged views on the possible future steps on the development of a partnership between Russia and NATO. A few days ago in Brussels we have discussed this issue in the Permanent Joint Council and the opinion was expressed that there was a necessity to elaborate a mechanism that would allow us to bring our partnership to a higher level so that it works in the formula when Russia and the NATO partners will form their group of twenty.

Our discussions also showed that the relations are developing and the Secretary of State even noted that it is even hard to count the number of times we have met this year, probably sixteen. We are sure there is a necessity to push our relationship up to a higher partnership level so that we enhance and make our cooperation stronger in all fields. This is the political will of the leaders of our countries, and the presidents of the United States and Russia will continue to work in that direction.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Mister Minister. I am very pleased to be in Moscow for the first time as Secretary of State. I fully agree with the report my colleague has given with respect to our discussions today. I believe today represents once again another building block on the solid foundation that has been developed over the last eleven months between President Bush and President Putin. The last thing President Putin said was for us to work even more closely together in the future. We did have a long discussion on Afghanistan and are pleased with the developments to date and are pleased with the cooperation that exists between the United States and Russia in the situation in Afghanistan.

As the Minister noted, we had a good discussion on the strategic framework we are working on. We are close to getting the strategic offensive numbers in line with each other. Both of our presidents have charged us to finish this work as soon as possible, and to find ways to formalize this agreement at lower levels of strategic offensive numbers and to try to get the work concluded in time for the two presidents when they meet in Moscow in the middle of next year and to do it in a way that preserves the verification and transparency procedures that exist in current agreements. As the Minister said, we still have disagreements with regard to missile defense and the ABM treaty and we will continue working on the whole strategic framework both offensive and defense in the months ahead as instructed by our presidents.

We did cover other issues, including the situation in the Middle East, which troubles us both. We will be doing everything we can in our power to get both back to the negotiating table so we can get to a cease-fire. I just might conclude by saying that we are very pleased with the state of our relationship right now. I think our improvement has been accelerated by the events of September 11th and since then we have been working more closely than before September 11th and I expect to be working even more closely with Minister Ivanov and his colleagues and with other American cabinet officials and their colleagues on the Russian side in the months ahead. Our relation is strong and it will get stronger with each passing day. Thank you.

RICHARD BOUCHER: We'll start with Mr. Tyler.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I believe there was some expectation that you would get the Russian offensive numbers when you came here today. Did you get them? And if you didn't, could you describe why you didn't? I wonder if we could ask both of you gentlemen, if this agreement, when it does come, will be in the form of a treaty and whether it should be, given that it has to outlive both the terms of Mr. Putin and President Bush. And finally, to Mr. Ivanov, I wonder if you could explain to us what it is the Russian side wants on the defensive missile question? Do you want to have a discussion about each level of American tests so you can evaluate its impact on the treaty or what's the hang up, because our side won't tell us? (Laughter).

SECRETARY POWELL: I will start with the second part to your first question. (Laughter). I encourage other members of the press to keep their questions shorter. (Laughter). On your first question, both of us recognize the need for a codification of the new levels we are going to and we will be discussing the form that that might take. It might be in the form of a treaty, or some other way of codifying it. With respect to what that agreed new lower level will be, we are very close. It's a matter of me reporting back to President Bush with what I heard today before being able to say anything more and make it public.

FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: I would like to join what the Secretary said. I thought that the main thing was to set approximately the radical cuts in the strategic offensive arms that we've arranged for. The levels that are determined by the sides allow us to start some practical work already. The main thing is that there is an understanding expressed by both sides that these reductions need to be embodied in some form of treaty formalization. During the negotiations we will decide what form it will take. As regards the third question, the Russian side has never put any prerequisites or preconditions as regards the ABM treaty. We proceeded from the assumption that this treaty is a useful one and that this needs to be preserved. This is our position.

QUESTION: ORT correspondent. This question is related to the ABM treaty, too. The first one to the Secretary of State: What are the intentions of the US Administration regarding the ABM Treaty of 1972? And second question to the Foreign Minister Ivanov: If the US unilaterally withdraws, what would the Russian reaction be?

SECRETARY POWELL: The United States has held the position for some years that we want to pursue the development of a limited missile defense system, a missile defense system that would be directed against irresponsible states that are developing missiles that can deliver weapons of mass destruction. We are not developing a system that would in any way under the deterrence capability of [Russian] offensive nuclear forces. The problem is that as we move forward with the development of such a system, the ABM Treaty constraints our testing and development and our deployment of such systems. So in due course, as we have said for a long period of time, we have to find a way to get out of the constraints of the ABM Treaty.

FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: In our forecasts, we're not excluding the possibility that the US may be withdrawing from the ABM Treaty. First of all, this was mentioned in statements, including official ones by US officials, top officials. Secondly, the treaty itself, in Article XV, provides for such an opportunity. Therefore in our programs for ensuring national security we are forecasting such an option, too. At the same time, we are proceeding from the fact that this treaty is the key element of the entire treaty system of providing or ensuring strategic stability in the world. And therefore our task will be parallel to ensuring our own national security to promote the strengthening of the control, over the cuts in weapons, as well as the non-proliferation regime.

RICHARD BOUCHER: Reuters, for a question.

QUESTION: I have two and a half questions. (Laughter). Foreign Minister Ivanov --

FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: Two for you and half for me. (Laughter).

QUESTION: You can decide. Since the Kazantsev talks failed last month, when do the Russians intend to resume negotiations with the Chechens? And, for you, Secretary Powell, did you get a commitment from the Russian side that alleged atrocities in Chechnya would be investigated? And did you discuss the case of TV-6 and will President Putin act to ensure that it is not closed?

FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: As for the first question, you are well aware of the statement by the Russian President in this regard and you are aware of the conditions that are set for the continuation of the political dialogue. On these conditions, Moscow is ready to continue negotiation and right now the ball is in the [court] of the Chechen people.

SECRETARY POWELL: We had a good exchange of views of Chechnya and the Foreign Minister has just touched on that. In the course of the discussion I indicated to President Putin that there was continuing concern on the part of many Americans about atrocities that might have been committed in the past . We have previously received assurances that where alleged atrocities are known about, they will be investigated. With respect to TV-6, President Putin and I did not discuss it. Mr. Ivanov and I had an earlier discussion about media freedom and the role that a free and independent media plays in a free and democratic society.

QUESTION: First of all, does the US Administration plan to expand their anti-terrorist operation to cover other countries of the region, Iraq in particular, and a small addition to the previous question that was addressed to the Secretary of State. You were a military service man, and you were very high-ranking military man, and you also participated in operations such as Desert Storm. But you said you were very glad to come to Moscow as a diplomat. Does that mean that it is easier for you to handle all the crises as a diplomat rather than as a military [man]? (Laughter).

SECRETARY POWELL: With respect to your first question, the United States and its partners are embarked on a campaign against terrorism throughout the entire world. The first phase of that campaign was directed against Usama bin Laden, al-Qaida, and the Taliban. As we get into other phases of the operation, we need to look at those terrorist organization that exist and those regimes that support them, or those regimes that are developing weapons of mass destruction that could be used by terrorists or threaten other nations. President Bush has not yet made any decision, nor has he received any recommendations from his national security team as to targets we should go after, to what targets we should direct our attention in the next phase of the campaign. Some problems can be solved by diplomats. Other problems can only be solved, unfortunately, by soldiers who are willing to put their lives at risk. So a good foreign policy should be backed up by good diplomats and good soldiers.

Thank you.

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Press Availability with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Berlin, Germany) For Immediate Release December 10, 2001

Press Availability by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell And German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer At the German Foreign Ministry

Berlin, Germany December 10, 2001

FOREIGN MINISTER FISCHER: So, let's shake hands. Okay. Are there any questions? Please.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, and Mr. Foreign Minister, Michael Spann, the CIA agent, who was killed in Afghanistan, is being buried today in Arlington and we are coming up to the three-month anniversary of the bombings, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on his death and sacrifice and any thoughts on this anniversary?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think all of us should be proud that there are men like Michael Spann, who are willing to go in harm's way for the nation and to serve the cause of freedom. I had occasion to meet his partner, the other man who was with him at that time, and it was a very emotional meeting that we had two days ago. I was also able to meet with a number of his other team mates and to share with them my expression of grief and condolences for their loss, and so we should always remember that freedom sometimes requires the supreme sacrifice. I feel for Mr. Spann's family as well as the families of the other Americans who have been lost in this conflict, but that frequently is necessary to achieve a noble purpose.

FOREIGN MINISTER FISCHER: We will never, I personally will never forget September 11th, I mean it was a very, very shocking and emotional experience, especially the attack on the World Trade Center -- to see these pictures of innocent people waiting for their deaths. It was a shocking experience, because the city of New York for all of us was a very specific city and a promising place, and when you know about, not only the terrible suffering of those who didn't survive and also about the suffering of the people, of the children and of the families, and we share these feelings. Any more questions?

QUESTION: Do you see an alternative to Mr. Arafat, first question, and are there any differences in position in the Middle East, between Europe and the United States?

SECRETARY POWELL: Mr. Arafat is the elected leader of the Palestinian authority and the recognized leader of the Palestinian people, and we are asking him to do everything in his power to get the violence down and to deal with these elements within the Palestinian community who have resorted to this kind of violence, and who are destroying the vision of peace. They are not only attacking Israel and Israeli citizens, they are attacking Mr. Arafat's position as a leader. We have said to him clearly that this is a challenge he cannot let go unanswered. He has to respond. I think in this regard, Foreign Minister Fischer and I and our two governments have coordinated very, very closely, since the first day of this administration. I think our views are similar, and we will continue to coordinate more closely together.

FOREIGN MINISTER FISCHER: Thank you very much.

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Press Briefing with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Berlin, Germany) For Immediate Release December 10, 2001

Press Briefing by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell And Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder

Federal Chancellery Berlin, Germany December 10, 2001

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are very pleased indeed to have this opportunity of welcoming his Excellency the Foreign Secretary of the United States of America, Mr. Colin Powell to Berlin. Mr. Powell has actually just told us, Joschka and myself, that this is his first visit to Germany since 1986 and Joschka has gone in and most warmly invited him to come back and spend a bit more time because the Excellency himself noticed that quite a few things had changed in the meantime.

Now, you all know obviously how very close the cooperation is between us and the Americans and how very important we feel that the Americans are for us and to us as partners. That is not something that is new since the 11th of September although |I do have to say that the situation of our joint friendship has in fact proven well through this strain and has become if at all possible even stronger.

Of course, very much at the center of our discussions was the topic of Afghanistan and the situation in the country. We were in strong agreement as to our assessment and also regarding the perspectives arising from this very situation. Now obviously, the military measures already taken must continue, they must continue until we have overcome the regime of the Taliban, until we have gone in and captured Osama bin Laden and since the situation is such that we can justifiably say that Al Qaeda has been fully and utterly destroyed.

We also agreed in fact that what has been done so far has already given a new and very positive perspective for Afghanistan as a country. You all know that we have had the Petersberg Conference here in Bonn, where the United Nations have done an outstanding job and they have done great work there, in opening up an economic as well as a political perspective for development for Afghanistan. But we are very, very agreed on the fact that what we now indeed need is an international peace corps, a peace troop, and it is going to be a troop which will be acting in the framework of a crystal clear United Nations mandate, which will then go in and provide the degree of protection so very necessary for this type of fledgling administration, to make sure it gets the scope for maneuver to develop into a proper government for Afghanistan.

Now, and if the situation were to arise that United Nations and /or our partners were to express the wish that Germany should participate in this peace force, then certainly Germany is going to be there at the front for that, and that is despite the fact and his Excellency the Secretary of State has cognizance of all this, that Germany already has a strong presence in the Balkans, where we have got 8000 people on the ground and where in fact we have the leading role in the mission of Amber Fox. So, despite those activities, which we will continue to maintain, Germany, when called upon, will be ready and willing to participate in an appropriate and to an appropriate degree here. Now obviously we will need ongoing discussions regarding the more detailed conditions of that deployment and then possibly not to leave that aside, we have obviously talked about the situation in the Middle East as well but I don't want to steal of the topics from the Secretary of State, so he might now want to take the floor.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Chancellor Schroeder. It's a great pleasure to be here in Berlin this evening making my first visit as Secretary of State. I regret the visit is so short but I accept Foreign Minister Fischer's invitation to come back and spend more time next spring.

We have no better friend in the world than Germany and that friendship was demonstrated after the events of the 11th of September, when the Chancellor and his government and the German people gave us full support for this campaign against terrorism. Americans will never forget the 200,000 Germans who came out to pay tribute to those who were killed at the World Trade Center.

Words were matched with action. The German government has been very forceful in assisting us in law enforcement and intelligence activities and in identifying sources of financing and identifying cells of terrorists and we appreciate that support. We appreciate the intelligence cooperation that we have had with the German government, and I especially want to thank the German government for not only hosting but providing leadership to the conference that was held in Bonn that resulted in an interim administration ready to go back into Kabul now.

We both recognize, of course, that there is now a need for an international security force to go to Kabul to serve in Afghanistan, that will require a strong and clear mandate from the United Nations and in a coalition of the willing, and I am pleased that, notwithstanding the many obligations that Germany has picked up in the Balkans, some 8000 troops are committed as the Chancellor has said, Germany is willing if asked to make a contribution to this international security force.

SECRETARY POWELL: We also discussed the Middle East. Foreign Minister Fischer and I spent a great deal of our time on this subject, and trying to get the violence down so that a negotiating process can begin. We really have to work hard to get a ceasefire in place, and a ceasefire will then lead us into the Mitchell Plan, and the Mitchell Plan will lead us to where we want to go; that is, negotiations on the basis of U.N. Resolution 242 and U.N. Resolution 338. We will continue to work as hard as we can to persuade both sides to do everything that they can, to bring the violence down and to begin discussions that will lead to this ceasefire. And I want to thank the Chancellor and Foreign Minister Fischer for their strong support of this effort.

I just want to thank the Chancellor for receiving me and I look forward to my next visit.

Thank you, Sir.

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: Are there any questions? No. Thank you. [laughter]

QUESTION: This is Elaine Monaghan from Reuters. Chancellor Schroeder, you met President Putin yesterday, I understand; and while we were in Moscow today, Secretary Powell and Foreign Minister Ivanov gave us to understand that they had agreed on a shared vision of the post-cold war era in terms of nuclear arms. Is it also your impression that Russia has come round to the U.S. way of thinking about strategic arms control and, if the Russians were to agree for the United States to continue with its missile defense testing, could Europe live with that?

CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER: Now, I'm firstly very much of the opinion that you can, indeed, believe the things that President Putin says. I do think he is very credible, particularly in reference to the reduction of the nuclear potential here. I think that a great deal of agreement exists there, not since the Washington summit alone, but certainly furthered by the Russian/American summit.

Now obviously regarding the ABM treaty there are differences here; those differences are a fact, they are in existence, so let's not beat around the bush here, and those differences are going to lead to some degree of upheaval, but they must not, and I think will not, lead to any kind of major crisis here. Now, it is true, in fact, that there is not a one hundred percent congruence of opinions when it comes to this subject and, well, if we are called upon to express our opinion, then we are always in favor of maintaining the acquis in obviously lots of different ways that one could think about, which ones would be the appropriate ones. But if we were called upon generally, my general stance would be that we are always in favor of even more disarmament, if possible, and obviously if this can be nailed down in the form of a treaty, then even better still; so let me come to the positive point in all this. We do very strongly welcome reduction in the number of warheads achieved here.

QUESTION: Now is it possible that the United Nations peacekeeping troops can already start while there is still fighting of some sort on the ground, and how do you envisage the kind of cooperation between the two very different troops that will then be acting?

SECRETARY POWELL: As you know the U.S. forces that are there under the command of General Tommy Franks are prosecuting a war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime remnants, and trying to capture Osama Bin Laden. It is a clear combat mission. The international security force that is coming in, is coming in for an entirely different purpose. It might have a humanitarian mission; it might have a security mission. That mission is still being structured; and so, two completely different missions. If the two forces are there at the same time, obviously there will have to be some coordination so that there isn't any confusion. A limited number of airfields, help units get in there, and so I would expect that there would be a high degree of coordination between the two; but they are two very, very distinct missions: the American mission under General Franks, operating under the command of President Bush as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States; the international security force. going in under a U.N. mandate to work under U.N. auspices, coalition of the willing lead by a member of the coalition of the willing, and working with the new interim Administration, quite clearly an entirely separate kind of mission, but requiring some close coordination between the two for obvious reasons.

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