12 September 2001
Transcript: U.S. Ambassador to Moscow on Terrorist Attacks
(Vershbow says U.S. pleased by response of Russian government) (1230)
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow says the United States is
"very, very pleased, and moved by, the response of the Russian
government" following the terrorist attacks on U.S. targets September
11.
In a brief meeting with reporters outside the U.S. embassy in Moscow
September 12, Vershbow noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin had
been in touch with President Bush, offering assistance and
underscoring an important message, "namely that we both face a common
enemy, the enemy of international terrorism, and it's important that
the international community as a whole unite against it."
Asked what effect the attacks might have on U.S. plans to develop a
missile defense system, he said, "I don't' think that this is going to
have any direct effect on the ongoing discussions and consultations
regarding a new strategic framework. I think yesterday's event
underscores that we do face very immediate threats from terrorist
groups and rogue states that may directly or indirectly support them."
Vershbow added, "We never said that missile defense is the only
answer. But there are threats emerging from long-range missiles that
are just as serious today as they were yesterday. This only
underscores that we have to address a multitude of threats, in
addition to those from long-range ballistic missiles."
Following is a transcript of the ambassador's remarks provided by the
U.S. Embassy in Moscow:
(begin transcript)
United States Embassy
Moscow, Russia
September 12, 2001
AMBASSADOR ALEXANDER VERSHBOW - REMARKS AND Q&A WITH REPORTERS OUTSIDE
THE U.S. EMBASSY, MOSCOW, SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
AMB. VERSHBOW: [Beginning of tape] ... our friends relatives and
colleagues back home. Some of us may have been touched by this tragedy
- we don't even know yet - but I know that this has really touched the
Russian people as well and I am really quite moved by the display of
sympathy and solidarity that is reflected here with the flowers and
the icons and so many other personal messages of condolence. We're
also very, very pleased, and moved by, the response of the Russian
government and President Putin who has been in touch with President
Bush, who has offered assistance and who has underscored what is an
important message, namely that we both face a common enemy, the enemy
of international terrorism, and it's important that the international
community as a whole unite against it. I had the opportunity to thank
Foreign Minister Ivanov personally for this and again I am very, very
touched by this outpouring of sympathy by the Russian people and I
think it's a sign that, even though we have a few small differences in
our relations, there's a lot more that unites us than divides us, even
in a time of tragedy. So I'm prepared to take a couple of questions if
you're interested.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible - "... close the embassy."]
AMB. VERSHBOW: No, we took some precautions today and reduced public
access just until the situation clarified, but I think in all
likelihood we'll be back in normal business tomorrow. We don't have
any information about a specific threat to the embassy or to American
interests. Nevertheless, one can never be certain about this and we
very much appreciate the extra security provided to us by Russian
police and other security forces.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible]
VERSHBOW: Well, we've been in touch with them in a lot of different
channels, including those that would be helpful in trying to get to
the bottom of the story as to who is responsible and the Russians have
pledged to us that they will share information if they can get it.
They've also provided offers of tangible support, including from the
Ministry of Emergency Situations, and we're considering that very
generous request right now.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible: "... more of a sense of cooperation ...
terrorism ...militarily... decision the U.S. might take."]
AMB. VERSHBOW: Well, I don't think I'd want to speculate about any
kinds of response options, or what we might or might not do with other
countries, but certainly we've already had the issue of
counter-terrorism on our agenda and this tragedy hopefully will at
least have the side effect of giving impetus to that kind of
cooperation and hopefully together we can prevent this type of thing
from happening in the future.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible: "... Russians ... discussions ... offer ...
potential ... intelligence."]
AMB. VERSHBOW: I can't really get into that. I'm not really in that
particular loop in any case. But I would say that the sympathy and the
emergency assistance that they've offered already is a very positive
gesture and I'll leave it at that.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible: "... expect ... America ... change of view
..."]
AMB. VERSHBOW: I don't' think that this is going to have any direct
effect on the ongoing discussions and consultations regarding a new
strategic framework. I think yesterday's event underscores that we do
face very immediate threats from terrorist groups and rogue states
that may directly or indirectly support them. We never said that
missile defense is the only answer. But there are threats emerging
from long-range missiles that are just as serious today as they were
yesterday. This only underscores that we have to address a multitude
of threats, in addition to those from long-range ballistic missiles.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible: "You say that the Russians have offered to
help you with information gathering. Is there any information that
they may already have ...?"]
AMB. VERSHBOW: No, I'm not familiar with any such information and if I
were, I probably couldn't talk to you about it anyway. But we have
good contacts - we've had good contacts for many years on this whole
subject of counter-terrorism and we want to make good use of those
channels right now.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible: "... administration ... Chechnya ..."]
AMB. VERSHBOW: Well, we've always recognized that part of the crisis
that the Russians face in Chechnya is one that's related to
international terrorism. The extremist forces in Chechnya do have
external sources of support, including from groups in the Middle East
and South Asia, and so there is a terrorist dimension to the Chechnya
conflict, but I think we have to say that the Russian approach to
solving that conflict in our view is leading them down the wrong path.
A military approach is only making a bad situation worse and we
continue to emphasize our view that their interests lie in finding a
political solution to the Chechnya crisis, even as we both stand [sic]
the terrorist groups that might be fueling that conflict. One more
question?
QUESTION: [Unintelligible]
AMB. VERSHBOW: Well, there, too, I'm not going to get ahead of those
in Washington who are better-equipped with the information we're
gathering and are still analyzing it, so I don't want to jump to any
conclusions. Ossama bin Laden's record, of course, prior to
yesterday's events, is pretty well documented. He is a man who -
himself and his group have a lot of blood on their hands so obviously
we're looking closely at what he may have had to do with this, but I
don't think we've reached any conclusions yet at this point.
QUESTION: [Unintelligible]
AMB. VERSHBOW: That's a subject we've had discussions about for a long
time and that's about all I can say. Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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