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Secretary Clinton Prepares for NATO and Russia Talks

By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton today prepared for her first meeting with the NATO Council. She said she would demonstrate that the United States intends to be an active participant within NATO and with NATO partners.

Issues important to the United States are to be raised, such as the plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan, the NATO-Russia relationship, some of the old problems and the new threats that are to be confronted together.

At the end of the week, Secretary Clinton has planned a meeting in Geneva, with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, followed by a visit to Turkey for consultations with the leadership there.

She also answered some questions from assembled media.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, could you talk a little bit, please, about Russia and the conversation that's going on at NATO whether to fully - whether to bring Russia back into the fold, particularly after the conflict in Georgia?

And then, if I may, would you mind responding to the ICC warrant for Bashir in Sudan, and whether you're concerned about - this will result in a lot more violence?

SECRETARY CLINTON: With respect to Russia, the relationship between NATO and Russia is going to be on the agenda of our discussions in Brussels. I think, just as with the conversation that I will begin with Minister Lavrov on Friday, there's an interest in exploring with Russia what kind of cooperation is possible - both with NATO, with the United States - on a range of issues, and that's going to be teed up. I think in some areas we're going to find there's a great potential for cooperation. In others, we're going to have differences and we will stand our ground and they will stand theirs and we'll hope to find some accommodation if possible.

But there are some actions that Russia has taken recently, as you know, over the last several years that are very troubling. Yet on the other hand, Russia just signed on to our P-5+1 statement, calling on the IAEA to vigorously enforce the Security Council resolutions regarding Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. I think there's a really active dialogue going on, and I'm looking forward to sitting down with Minister Lavrov to explore what the limits of it are.

QUESTION: And on the ICC?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Governments and individuals who either conduct or condone atrocities of any kind, as we have seen year after year in Sudan, have to be held accountable. The ICC has issued an indictment based on a very long investigation, and it is now in a judicial system, properly so. We are going to hope that there is not any increased violence on the part of the government in Khartoum. In the face of this indictment, President Bashir would have a chance to have his day in court. If he believes that the indictment is wrongly charged, he can certainly contest it. But I certainly hope that it does not lead to any additional actions of violence or punishment on the part of the Bashir government.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, on Russia and their position in relation to NATO, we understand that the U.S. is sort of thinking that the NATO-Russia Council has not really been as useful as it should have been, and that some sort of upgrade of that relationship is necessary. What might that look like?

And on the Syria question, how much coordination and what kind of coordination did you do with the congressional delegations that went to Damascus in recent weeks and months?

SECRETARY CLINTON: We are exploring ways, as I said, to create more cooperation between Russia and NATO. I think the NATO-Russia Council is one vehicle, but there may be other ways that we can design. But it's not the vehicle so much as the substance. We want to have a more robust and meaningful dialogue with Russia going forward on a range of issues. We believe that there are a number of areas that should be explored to determine exactly what possible overlapping areas of responsibility could be developed.

For example, you heard and saw that we think that there is some useful discussion that can be had about missile defense with the Russians. I don't think that should surprise anybody. The Russians and the United States have sort of had an on-and-off discussion for a number of years about whether they can cooperate, whether we can cooperate together.

Let's put it on a serious track and not talk to each other through the press, with all due respect, but actually talk to each other about what's possible. It is important to make the case, as I and others have been making it, that we think Iran poses a threat to Europe and Russia. How do we cooperate on that? But first, how do we make the case for that shared mutual interest? I think this is a very rich area for exploration, and that's what we're going to do.

With respect to Syria, I personally spoke with two of the congressional delegations that have gone to Syria, got a full readout from them as to their assessments. I think that certainly based on those assessments plus our own, we're taking this step of sending our two representatives to Damascus. We're not staking out ground and saying what we are or are not going to do. We're exploring. We don't know what's possible. We don't know what's going to be developed out of this. We're testing whether or not there is a sincere interest in resolving a number of the issues that are contentious between us.

QUESTION: Thank you, Madame Secretary, Sylvie Lanteaume from AFP. During your talks with your European colleagues, are you going to speak about the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo? And are you satisfied so far with the level of cooperation you got from them?

SECRETARY CLINTON: I'm very encouraged by what I've heard, as you may know, because I've done a number of these bilateral meetings over the last weeks. I have met with many European foreign ministers as well as foreign ministers from other parts of the world. In the vast majority of cases, I have raised this as something that we may well come back to them about once we finish our own internal work on this issue.

I think we have been quite encouraged at the positive, receptive responses we've been getting. But we're not ready to go yet and actually make specific requests. But I am encouraged that this will be an area where we'll have a good working partnership.

QUESTION: Thank you, Madame Secretary. You know, there's - with some of the discussion in the press about the letter to the Russians and missile defense, there have been -

Yes. There have been concerns raised in Poland and the Czech Republic about whether or not they're being left in the lurch. And I was wondering if you were planning to address that in any way, when you see your counterparts.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, actually I've discussed it already with Foreign Minister Sikorski and Foreign Minister Schwartzenberg, and I see it very differently. My view is that the people and governments of the Czech Republic and Poland showed great courage and leadership in agreeing to have the missile defense systems deployed on their soil. Why? Because they recognize there is a real potential future threat. They didn't hide their heads in the sand. They said, you know what, we see it as you see it, that missiles not only with a nuclear warhead, but a conventional warhead, or some other chemical, biological weapon, could very well be in the hands of a regime like Iran's, which we know will use whatever advantage they have to intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach, and which - who are actively pursuing a missile development program.

Certainly the constant threat that we worry about - of these weapons falling into the hands of terrorist groups -suggest strongly that Europe, which is much closer in range to a country like Iran or a potential launching ground of a terrorist network, needs to be prepared.

I think that both the Czech Republic and Poland have shown a visionary understanding of what is at stake. And as I said with both of them, and I think in the meeting with - the press avail with Minister Schwartzenberg, as I remember, I not only publicly thanked the people and Government of the Czech Republic, but said that their willingness to do this assists us dramatically in trying to figure out how we are going to have a mutual defense.

We've made the point to Russia, and we will make it again - and I think that they're beginning to really believe it - that this is not about Russia. We have real potential threats and obviously Iran is the name we put to them.

But it is a kind of stand-in for the range of threats that we foresee. Just as we had to build a mutual defense with Europe in the 20th century, we have to build it in the 21st century. It is my hope, Glenn, that we will persuade Russia to be part of that defense. We don't look at Russia and see a missile threat from Russia. We have other problems on energy and their sphere of influence. You know the list. But this is a very real part of our planning for future defense cooperation. I think that because of what Poland and the Czech Republic did, we are further along than we would have been.

Also, I'm going to be looking at potential mutual defense pacts in other parts of the world as well. Because what keeps us awake at night is the potential of a nuclear weapon or another weapon of mass destruction falling into the wrong hands, and either being launched in an intentional way, despite the consequences, because as you know, deterrence is more difficult to use against a non-state actor. It's a different mindset about how you retaliate against a non-state actor; or in an unintentional, inadvertent, negligent way in the wrong hands.

This is a big piece of business. I hope that all of our allies and partners around the world begin to think with us about what 21st century deterrence looks like.

Source: U.S. Department of State