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31 March 1998

TRANSCRIPT: STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, MARCH 30, 1998

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
INDEX
MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1998
Briefer: JAMES P. RUBIN
GREECE
13    US Position on the Transfer of S-300 Missiles to Cyprus
................
Q: Mr. Rubin, what would be your reaction to press reports that S-300
missiles may end up being deployed in Greece? Is this a development
the US would favor?
MR. RUBIN: You mean as opposed to Cyprus?
Q: Yes.
MR. RUBIN: In lieu of Cyprus?
Q: Yes.
MR. RUBIN: This, again, sounds like a trick question to me - although
most of these do.
Q: Most of the answers are tricky, too.
(Laughter.)
MR. RUBIN: I do the best I can. The position of the United States on
the danger associated with the transfer of these air defense S-300
missiles to Cyprus has not changed. We think this would be an
escalation. We do not want to see this happen; we've made that clear
to the various parties. As far as any new report about the missiles
not going to Cyprus, to the extent they're not going to Cyprus, that
would meet the concern we have. But whether they would be somewhere
else and then could be moved and therefore wouldn't meet the concern
would depend on the specific report, which I haven't seen.
But certainly, our objective is to convince those involved not to send
those missiles to Cyprus, nor for Cyprus to receive them.
Q: The problem will be half solved as far as --
MR. RUBIN: No, I didn't say that because I don' t know the report
you're referring your question to. I have no clue what that means, and
I would prefer to wait and see what the specific report you're
referring to says before making an official judgment.
But in principle, to the extent that missiles we're concerned about
don't go to the place we're concerned about, with regard to that
place, it will be better. But it could be worse if they go somewhere
else, and the overall effect could be worse than if they went to the
original place, depending on what the specific proposal was.
(Laughter.)
Therefore, I'm going to wait - (laughter) - I'm going to wait until I
see the specific report.
.........
(end transcript)