Tracking Number: 357639
Title: "US Experts Advise Kazakhstan on Implementation of START." Remarks by US Ambassdor Linton Brooks and nuclear expert Dr Edward Ifft during a press briefing in Almaty
regarding US nuclear technical assistance to Kazakhstan. (940819)
Date: 19940819
Text:
*EUR510
08/19/94 U.S. EXPERTS ADVISE KAZAKHSTAN ON IMPLEMENTATION OF START (Transcript: Brooks, Ifft briefing) (2030) Almaty, Kazakhstan -- A delegation of arms control experts from the United States, in Almaty at the invitation of the Kazakhstani Ministry of Defense, are briefing Kazakhstani government officials on the methods and procedures that the United States used in implementing the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) and START (Strategic Arms Reduction Talks) treaties.
The is the first-ever such briefing by the United States. However, because of Kazakhstan's good record of implementing the INF treaty and its willingness to go forward with START treaty implementation, the United States quickly responded to the Kazakhstani invitation to share U.S. experiences in this area. These briefings will also give the United States and Kazakhstan time to develop a mutual understanding of the complex issues tied to arms control activities.
Ambassador Linton Brooks, formerly of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), and Dr. Edward Ifft from the On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) head the delegation. Ambassador Brooks was the principal U.S. negotiator for the START treaty. In the briefings in Almaty, he has provided historical insight into the negotiations that led to the INF and START treaties. Dr. Ifft has addressed the practical aspects of INF and START treaty implementation. OSIA, the agency which he represents, is charged with conducting the verification and inspections called for in the INF treaty, and will also do the inspections stemming from the START treaty.
Following is a transcript of the briefing: (Begin transcript) AMBASSADOR BROOKS: As all of you know, Kazakhstan, when it became independent, inherited two arms control treaties, and we have been working this week with a number of representatives from the government of Kazakhstan to talk about how to implement those treaties. This is one of a number of contacts between our two countries that have grown since President Nazarbayev visited the United States. But this trip is different than many. We have never done this with any other state in the nuclear arms control area, because this hasn't been a negotiation; instead it has been a discussion and seminar. We came here to explain how we organize ourselves to implement treaties. We discussed how we train people to conduct and receive inspections. We discussed how we prepare for meetings of the commissions associated with the treaties.
We did this for two reasons. First, because of the very good relations between the United States and Kazakhstan, we wanted there to be no surprises about our approach to arms control.
Second, we thought that our experience might be useful to the government of Kazakhstan as it continues to develop its own procedures for carrying out its arms control responsibilities. We met with representatives of all of the ministries involved in carrying out this work. And all of us have been very impressed by the seriousness and the knowledge of our Kazakhstani counterparts. And while it is obviously not for me to say whether this has been helpful or not, we hope very much that it has.
We brought with us a number of American experts. I am here because I helped to negotiate one of the treaties and thus am an expert on how it was developed. Dr. Ifft, who is the co-chairman of our group is here both because he helped in the negotiations and because he now oversees the agency in the United States that carries out inspections. So with that introduction, we would be happy to answer any questions about our work here or about arms control.
QUESTION: I am from "Red Star," the Russian Ministry of Defense newspaper. Could you tell us what the status is for implementation of INF and START and what is the progress of the effort in the United States? Are you satisfied with the work of your partners in this area in terms of implementation?
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: The INF treaty was signed in 1987. It eliminated what are usually referred to as medium-range nuclear weapons. And by the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there was a great deal of experience in conducting and receiving inspections. Those inspections have continued, and we are generally very pleased with how smoothly they have gone.
START, which is the treaty that regulates strategic arms, is a somewhat different situation. The United States and the Soviet Union had signed the treaty, but it was not yet in force when the Soviet Union ended. So we have worked with the states that had strategic weapons and strategic facilities on their territories to adapt the treaty to the new political reality. At the moment, all of the states involved -- Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the United States -- have agreed that START should be brought into effect, but it is not yet in effect.
One reason for our visit was to help Kazakhstan as it prepares for this new treaty. I think that Dr. Ifft and I are both anxious to see the treaty that we worked so hard on take effect, but we are certainly very pleased with the attitude of Kazakhstan and with its preparations.
DR. IFFT: I'd like to say a word about the inspection regime. For the purposes of the INF treaty, Kazakhstan is one of twelve successor states to the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan has four facilities which are subject to on-site inspection under that treaty. The first inspection in Kazakhstan under the INF treaty was conducted at a factory in Petropavlovsk in February of this year. We were completely satisfied with that inspection and with the preparations that Kazakhstan had made.
The START treaty, as Ambassador Brooks said, for the purposes of that treaty, there are four successor states to the former Soviet Union, of which Kazakhstan is one. Kazakhstan has five facilities which will be subject to inspections under the START treaty, and those inspections will begin whenever the START treaty enters into force, which we hope will be soon.
Q: Ekspress K. Could you tell us why START has not yet entered into force? Maybe there are differences with the Russian Federation, with Ukraine, or the U.S. is not happy about something?
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: At the moment, the reason START is not in force is because of a combination of the position of the Russian Federation and of Ukraine. START requires that Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine adhere to the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT). It requires that they state to do so in the shortest possible time, but it allows START to come into effect before the states have actually adhered to the NPT.
In approving START, the Russian parliament put on a condition that they would only allow the treaty to come into effect once the other three states had adhered to the NPT. Kazakhstan and Belarus have done so; Ukraine has not yet done so. President Kuchma, the new president of Ukraine, has told the United States that it is a high priority of his to complete action on the NPT, and we hope that will happen very soon. That will be the last remaining step to bring START into effect.
Q: Could you tell us what ministries have been involved in the meetings here?
DR. IFFT: The Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Institute of Strategic Research, the National Joint Stock Airline "Kazakhstan Aye Zholy," and the Main Customs Directorate of the Ministry of Finance; the Russian Federation also had two representatives.
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: The number of ministries involved is an example of how many different parts of the government are involved in these treaties. We on our side had people from a number of different organizations in the United States.
Q: In terms of the ministries, agencies and departments that are represented here, is this their own initiative, or do the treaties require their involvement?
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: The visit was at the initiative of the United States. The composition on the side of Kazakhstan was their decision. We deal primarily with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, naturally, but there are other people involved, in particular when U.S. teams come here to carry out inspections.
Q: Do you plan to do these kinds of trip to other countries like Ukraine, Belarus and Russia?
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: We almost certainly will not go to Russia, which has a very large organization and a good deal of experience. It is not yet decided about Belarus and Ukraine.
Q: Is that your position, or is that Belarus and Ukraine? AMBASSADOR BROOKS: We have not yet talked. We made the initial offer to Kazakhstan as part of a series of discussions that we have been having with the government.
Q: I have two questions. The first has to do with the timing of your visit. Was that something you decided ahead of time, or was there some specific situation that is emerging that dictated your coming here now. Secondly, is this going to be a theoretical consultation, or are there practical efforts as well?
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: We came this week because this is the week the government of Kazakhstan invited us. We were willing to come whenever it was convenient for the government. Our work is theoretical in the sense that we have been sitting in this room and talking, but we have been trying to talk about very practical things. For example, the treaty does not tell you how many people it takes to escort an inspection team. But we have experience, so we have been trying to share what we have learned about how many people should be involved, what they should do, what kind of training they should have. Perhaps the best way is to say that these are theoretical discussions about very practical things.
Q: There was a U.S. inspection team that came here to Petropavlovsk in February. Are you continuing their work? Is it coordinated with the work of that delegation?
DR. IFFT: Yes, I personally led the team in Petropavlovsk. Our primary purpose was to talk about the START treaty, which is not yet in force, but we also discussed for a day and a half the INF treaty.
Q: Then as far as I can tell, this is part of a chain of events in terms of assisting Kazakhstan in arms control treaty implementation.
AMBASSADOR BROOKS: Absolutely correct. It is a friendly spirit of cooperation between two parties to the treaties. It is only fitting that we try to help. If it had not been for the statesmanship of President Nazarbayev following the breakup of the Soviet Union, there wouldn't be any START treaty. He personally worked with Secretary Baker on the arrangements that led us to the Protocol signed in Lisbon in 1992 that made the START treaty apply to the successor states of the Soviet Union equally. So our relations with Kazakhstan in the arms control area have always been very good. Nonetheless, we have hundreds of people who have implemented treaties for a dozen years, so we hoped that our experience would be useful, and that is why we came.
DR. IFFT: We sometimes also engage in more practical activities in the field. For example, before we conducted the inspection in Petropavlovsk, we conducted a practice inspection in Saryozek. One purpose of that was to make sure that both sides were ready and that the real inspections would be successful.
Q: Mr. Ambassador, what is your actual role in the treaty implementation? AMBASSADOR BROOKS: My role personally is very limited. Dr. Ifft's role is very great. I was asked to join this group for two reasons. One is that because I was fortunate enough to be the chief negotiator when START was signed, I have a good deal of knowledge. The other was that we wanted to have both Dr. Ifft and me to lead this as an indication of how anxious we are to be as helpful as possible to our friends in Kazakhstan.
(End transcript) NNNN
File Identification: 08/19/94, EUR510; 08/22/94, ERF106
Product Name: Wireless File
Product Code: WF
Languages: Russian
Keywords: IFFT,
EDWARD/Speaker; BROOKS, LINTON/Speaker; KAZAKHSTAN-US RELATIONS; DISARMAMENT; START (STRATEGIC ARMS REDUCTION TREATY); TREATIES & AGREEMENTS; NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION; NUCLEAR WEAPONS; ARMS CONTROL & DISARMAMENT AGENCY;
Document Type: TRA
Thematic Codes: 1AC
Target Areas: EU
PDQ Text Link: 357639
USIA Notes: *94081902.PFE
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
