Russian foreign minister on ties with USA, Iran, foreign affairs

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
19 Jan 05

Russian agencies accorded extensive coverage to Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov’s news conference in Moscow today [19 January]
which dealt with numerous international issues of interest to Russia.

Commenting on US President George Bush’ statement that non-diplomatic
methods may be used to resolve Iran’s nuclear programme, Lavrov said:
“I do not think it useful to talk, even hypothetically, about a
situation that will arise if anyone decides to resort to other,
non-diplomatic methods of resolving this problem,” Russian Interfax
news agency said at 0928 gmt.

He said Russia’s construction of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station
was “absolutely transparent and fully under the IAEA control” and
added: “As far as Iran is concerned, I would like to stress, first and
foremost, that all the main participants in the talks and contacts
aimed at resolving Iran’s nuclear problem proceed from the methods of
settling it by political means and there is every opportunity to do
this,” ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him as saying at 1004 gmt.

Russia welcomes the efforts by Arab countries to combat terrorism,
ITAR-TASS said at 1046 gmt. It quoted Lavrov as saying that “Russia
possesses certain documents and accords with Arab countries concerning
the fight against terrorism. There is also a dialogue during which
problems of internal and external security are discussed. Russia
welcomes the steps which her partners are taking to ensure their
territories are not used for terrorist activities.” Lavrov condemned
what he called “double standards in the fight against terrorism”.

“Those who prepare and carry out acts of terrorism must be judged by
the same yardstick. We expect persons suspected of preparing and
carrying out terrorist acts to be extradited.” “Ideally, it would be
necessary to compile a list of persons involved in terrorism. Russia
has already submitted a proposal to this effect to the UN Security
Council,” TASS quoted Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov described Condoleezza Rice as a “serious politician”. “I know
Condoleezza Rice and I do not think that the US administration will
depart from a course formulated by the Russian and US presidents,
aimed at developing partner relations,” ITAR-TASS said at 1236 gmt.

Commenting on US Department of State’s reports on Russia, he said that
“evaluations in them do not always coincide with Russia’s position”.

“Russia’s internal policies develop on the basis of the
Constitution. When constructive criticism of us is voiced, we pay
attention. When it is directed towards returning us all to the times
of the Cold War, we can not agree with this. Some people have recently
been trying, through the media, to portray the developments in Russia
as a throw-back to totalitarianism. I do not think this is in good
faith. Most likely some people do not like the fact that Russia is
getting stronger and becoming more independent economically and
financially.”

Looking forward to the Russian-US summit in Bratislava on 24 February,
Lavrov described relations between Vladimir Putin and George Bush as
“friendly, mutually respectful and based on an equal dialogue”.

Russian RIA Novosti agency said at 0910 gmt that Lavrov praised the
role of the CIS in the life of its members. “All CIS member countries
regard the CIS as an important forum for defining the strategic
interests of our states.” Lavrov praised trade and economic relations
with the CIS and advocated a closer integration among its members.

ITAR-TASS at 0921 gmt quoted Lavrov as saying that CIS needed to get
rid of a number of “ineffective” bodies, without specifying them. It
was necessary to implement reforms in such a way as to “preserve the
CIS’ underpinning principles of voluntariness and gradual
integration”.

Speaking of the issue of Nagornyy Karabakh in the context of his
forthcoming visit to Armenia in February, ITAR-TASS at 1042 gmt quoted
Lavrov as saying that Russia “is interested in the sides [to the
conflict] arriving at mutually-acceptable solutions to settle the
Karabakh issue”. Speaking of resumption of rail traffic between Russia
and Armenia, Lavrov said: “We hope, in the context of a general
progress of our dialogue with Georgia, to resolve the problem of
resuming the rail traffic on the Sochi-Tbilisi route and this will
make it possible to remove Yerevan’s long-standing concerns.”

Russian RIA Novosti agency at 0926 gmt said Lavrov was planning to
visit Azerbaijan on 2 February to prepare for the Azerbaijani
president’s visit to Moscow. Lavrov did not “rule out” discussing the
Karabakh issue: “Over the past few months, following the meeting
between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Astana and their
meeting with Putin, positive shifts have begun to make themselves
felt. I am saying this with cautious optimism,” the agency quoted
Lavrov as saying.

Speaking of relations with the Baltic states, Lavrov said: “We want
our relations with the Baltic states to be good-neighbourly and
mutually advantageous, based on universally-accepted norms and on the
obligations our countries have internationally. We are interested in
developing mutually advantageous cooperation and settling all
problems, including the signing of border treaties,” ITAR-TASS, 0953
gmt, quoted Lavrov as saying.

Turning to the issue of Kosovo, Lavrov was quoted by ITAR-TASS, 1047
gmt, as saying that “Undue haste in resolving the status of Kosovo may
lead to unpredictable consequences. Russia has repeatedly called for
the decisions concerning Kosovo to be implemented. The situation of
ethnic minorities in Kosovo is becoming worse. A dialogue with Kosovo
authorities, national minorities and Belgrade is needed. Russia
regards it as necessary to cooperate with the international tribunal,
but not everything should hinge on the arrest of this or that leader,”
TASS said, quoting Lavrov.

Lavrov said that Japanese foreign minister’s recent Moscow visit “has
been very useful”. ITAR-TASS at 0955 gmt quoted him as saying that the
date of Putin’s visit to Japan may be specified after the visit’s
agenda has been agreed. “We confirmed the necessity of developing
relations on the basis of the Russian-Japanese action plan adopted at
summit level. This document provides for broad cooperation in all
fields with a simultaneous tackling of problems connected with a peace
treaty. We have acquired a more realistic idea of going forward in
keeping with the plan that has been adopted,” the agency quoted Lavrov
as saying.