TRANSCRIPT OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV'S SPEECH AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE RESULTS OF THE JOINT SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS AND THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE MINISTERS OF THE COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY (CST) MEMBER STATES, MOSCOW, MAY 13, 2002

Igor Ivanov: The main task that confronted the just concluded meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the Collective Security Treaty countries was to prepare a session of the Collective Security Council to be held tomorrow. I must say our work was constructive and fruitful as always. The CST will soon be 10 years old. This is undoubtedly a remarkable date, and we are marking it in a businesslike way by seeking to make interaction among states within the Collective Security Treaty more effective. A thorough analysis of cooperation among the member states has confirmed that the Treaty is turning into a weighty factor of ensuring their national security not in words but in action. The mechanisms of interaction in the political, military and military-technical fields created within the CST allow us to gradually raise the level of our partnership and effectively ensure our national and collective interests in the face of new threats and challenges. An example of this is the collective rapid deployment forces (CRDF), the creation of which helps stabilize the situation in Central Asia. In June the CRDF will take part in an exercise that is planned to be held in Kirghizia with the participation of the CIS Anti-Terrorist Center.

At the same time we do not turn a blind eye, and this was also discussed today, to the bottlenecks in our work to enhance military-political integration. It is obvious for the member states that the practice of cooperation under the Treaty needs further improvement. In this context, it was decided today that it would be expedient to propose that the heads of our states consider the question of reorganizing the Collective Security Treaty into a full-fledged international organization. There is certainly no question of changing existing structures in a cardinal way. All the positive experience that has been obtained will be preserved as much as possible to use as the basis for making the work of CST bodies more efficient, smoother and faster. We paid increased attention to questions of foreign policy interaction. It must be noted that the CST countries closely cooperate within the UN, the OSCE and other international organizations. Multilateral and bilateral consultations involve ministers, their deputies, ambassadors, permanent representatives and senior officials from the ministries. Today we had a substantive exchange of views on key problems of international development and discussed the situation in regions that border the CST area. We approved a thematic plan of foreign policy coordination among the CST member states. The foreign ministers and their counterparts from the defense ministries took an active part in the discussion of issues regarding military and military-technical cooperation. Close interaction in these fields is undoubtedly one of the most important elements of the Treaty, especially in light of its transformation into an international organization. The convergence of the political will and the determination of the member states to continue to consider the Treaty as the main instrument for military-political integration is an important stage in building a system of collective security in Europe and Asia. All this was reflected in the drafts of the Statement of the CST member states in connection with the 10th anniversary of the Treaty we considered, and the appropriate decisions adopted by the session. I want to emphasize once again that the joint work of the defense and foreign ministers proceeded in a very coordinated and constructive manner. All issues put up for discussion, and it was a big agenda, were considered, and appropriate decisions were adopted that will be presented to the heads of state tomorrow.

Question: Igor Sergeyevich, the text of the Treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive weapons that is expected to be considered at the summit in Moscow was, on the whole, agreed at the Russian-US negotiations in Moscow. Could you disclose some of the parameters of this treaty and tell us how Russia and the global security system will benefit from it?

Igor Ivanov: The President of the Russian Federation, who was informed about the results of the talks held in Moscow today at level of experts, has just made a statement on this issue. The draft of the Treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive weapons is on the whole ready to be signed. In our meeting in Reykjavik tomorrow, I and the US Secretary of State will analyze the status of other documents that are also expected to be presented to the presidents during the summit. After these documents have been presented to the presidents and signed, I and the Defense Minister will be able to tell you more about the contents of these documents and about their importance for Russia and for international security in general.