Bush Calls Upon Hizballah To Lay Down Arms
15 July 2006
Says U.S.-Russian negotiations on Russia's WTO accession to continue "in good faith"
St. Petersburg, Russia – President Bush said the Hizballah terrorist group is responsible for the increased violence in the Middle East. He called on the organization to stop fighting, and on neighboring Syria to exert its influence over the group.
Speaking in a joint press availability with Russian President Vladimir Putin July 15 following their bilateral meeting, Bush placed blame for the violence squarely upon Hizballah, due to its rocket attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, as well as its July 12 attack on Israel, which resulted in the capture of two Israeli soldiers.
“The best way to stop the violence is for Hizballah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking. And therefore, I call upon Syria to exert influence over Hizballah,” Bush said.
Prior to the violence, the president said “good progress” was being made toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “As the vision was progressing, certain terrorist elements began to act to stop the advance of democracy,” he said, referring both to Hizballah and the militant wing of Hamas that launched a June 25 raid into Israel and kidnapped a soldier. (See related story.)
Bush said the short-term solution is for Hizballah to stop attacking Israel and called upon the international community, including those in the region, to place their support behind leaders that “support the advance of democracy” as a longer-term solution.
In his remarks, President Putin said he considers Israel’s security concerns “to be justified,” but said, “the use of force should be balanced,” and called for an end to the violence “as soon as possible.”
The Russian leader said his country and the United States would work together on the issue to find a “concrete solution,” both to the short-term violence and the longer-term situation in the Middle East.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said afterward that the Bush administration has been in contact with Israel to urge it to ease the humanitarian situation in the crisis and to avoid harming innocent civilians and the civilian infrastructure.
However, he said “it is difficult when Hizballah conducts activities that are terror-related in settings where innocent civilians are held at risk.”
Hadley also called upon Israel to refrain from taking steps that would destabilize the Lebanese government as Prime Minister Fouad Siniora seeks to deal with the situation caused by Hizballah. He also said Hizballah’s activities signify the need to fully implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 according to which the organization should be disarmed.
The national security advisor said he hopes the upcoming Group of Eight summit will produce a strategy to deal with the situation that recognizes that Hizballah is at the “root” of the problem, and that Iran and Syria, as suppliers and facilitators of Hizballah are “very much involved.”
The full text of Resolution 1559 is available on the U.N. Web site.
BUSH SAYS DEAL “ALMOST REACHED” ON RUSSIAN WTO ACCESSION
President Bush said a deal that would eliminate U.S. opposition to Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) “was almost reached,” during recent discussions, and that the two sides found accommodation on many of the areas. “But,” he said, “there’s more work to be done.”
“We’re tough negotiators, and the reason why is because we want the agreement that we reach to be accepted by the United States Congress,” he said, referring to the need for intellectual property rights and other bilateral trade issues to be fully settled between the two governments before Congress can ratify the deal.
“I believe we’re fair negotiators, and our negotiators come to the table trying to achieve the objective that I set out,” he said. “We want Russian accession to the WTO,” and the negotiations to achieve this would continue “in good faith.”
In remarks after the press conference, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said “significant progress” was made during the talks, citing agreements over industrial tariffs and a near agreement over the financial and other services sector. She said “excellent progress” was made on intellectual property rights, and the two sides are “very close” on an agreement over U.S. access to Russia’s agriculture market.
“We are putting together a blueprint to finalize our negotiations,” she said, and possibly within “the next couple of months” a deal will be reached and Russia’s WTO accession will then move on to a multilateral process.
President Putin described the process, which has been ongoing for several years, as being “complicated,” and said the failure to reach an agreement so far has not been a surprise.
“We will continue to work further, pursuing our interest and the interest of our developing economy,” Putin said.
UNITED STATES, RUSSIA SENDING “CLEAR MESSAGE” TO IRAN AND NORTH KOREA
President Bush said the conflicts over North Korea’s and Iran’s respective nuclear programs were made “less difficult” in his talks with Putin because the United States and Russia are sending a “clear message” to both countries that “their nuclear weapons ambitions are not acceptable.”
The two countries are working together on U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning both countries “that will send a clear message,” he said.
“I think it’s indicative of the strength of our relationship that we’re able to agree on non-proliferation matters,” he said, adding that both countries are “taking the lead on this issue,” and since both have suffered from terrorist attacks, they understand that terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction would create a “greater catastrophe.”
Bush said the two countries are sending a common message to both countries that “there is a better way forward,” as well as communicating “the seriousness of our intent.”
President Putin said the cooperation between the two does not constitute a “plot against a particular country,” but is partly a search for solutions to help with economic development concerns and to solve their legal access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
“It is not in Russia’s national interest to see a proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, especially in such an explosive region as the Middle East,” Putin said, adding, “This is something we tell our Iranian partners directly.”
LEADERS ANNOUNCE NEW COOPERATION AGAINST NUCLEAR TERRORISM
In a joint statement, Bush and Putin also announced the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, which calls upon countries to cooperate in preventing “the acquisition, transport, or use by terrorists of nuclear materials and radioactive substances or improvised explosive devices using such materials,” as well as protecting against hostile actions targeting nuclear facilities.
Under the initiative, countries will seek to combat nuclear terrorism “on a determined and systematic basis.” According to a White House fact sheet, initial partner nations have been invited to meet in the fall of 2006, with the International Atomic Energy Agency serving as an observer, to “elaborate and endorse” a statement of principles for the initiative. (See related story.)
The transcript of the press conference and the fact sheet are available on the White House Web site.
For additional information, see G8 Summit 2006, St. Petersburg, Russia.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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