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Skriven 2005-02-24 23:32:58 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0502247) for Thu, 2005 Feb 24
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U.S.-Russia Joint Fact Sheet: Bratislava Initiatives
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 24, 2005

U.S.-Russia Joint Fact Sheet: Bratislava Initiatives



Joint Presidential Action

The President of the Russian Federation and the President of the United
States committed to pursue a number of initiatives that will make the two
countries and their citizens safer and more prosperous. The Presidents
issued joint statements on three matters and agreed to personally ensure
progress on all three issues. They will assess progress at subsequent
meetings this year.

Nuclear Security Cooperation

The two countries will enhance cooperation to counter one of the gravest
threats the two countries face, nuclear terrorism. This cooperation will
include:

o Enhancing an emergency response capability to deal with a nuclear or
radiological incident, including development of additional technical
methods to detect nuclear and radioactive materials that are, or may be,
involved in the incident;

o Working together to help ensure full implementation of UN Security
Council Resolution 1540;

o Sharing "best practices" for the sake of improving security at nuclear
facilities bilaterally and with other nations with advanced nuclear
programs;

o Enhancing of the "security cultures" in both countries; and

o Working jointly to develop low-enriched uranium fuel for use in any U.S.-
and Russian-design research reactors in third countries now using
high-enriched uranium fuel, and to return fresh and spent high-enriched
uranium from U.S.- and Russian-design research reactors in third countries.

While the security of U.S. and Russian nuclear facilities meet current
requirements, the Presidents stressed that these requirements must be
constantly enhanced to counter evolving terrorist threats. To this end, the
Presidents agreed to develop a plan of work through and beyond 2008 for
cooperation on security upgrades of nuclear facilities.

The Presidents established a U.S.-Russian Senior Interagency Group for
cooperation on nuclear security (including the disposition of fissile
material no longer needed for defense purposes) chaired by Secretary of
Energy Bodman and Rosatom Director Rumyantsev. The Senior Interagency Group
will report on implementation of the two countries' cooperation in this
sphere, taking into account key financial, legal, technical, and other
considerations.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

The Presidents committed the United States and Russia to work together to
complete our bilateral negotiations for Russia's accession to the WTO in
2005 and to help Russia complete the multilateral negotiations necessary
for WTO accession. Russian WTO membership will integrate Russia more fully
into the global economy, improve the trade, regulatory, and investment
climate, and facilitate increased U.S.-Russian trade and investment.

Energy Cooperation

The Presidents directed the U.S. and Russian Ministers of Energy and
Commerce to meet to develop recommendations on how to intensify and develop
further the bilateral energy dialogue, including through the mechanisms of
the Energy Working Group and the Commercial Energy Dialogue. The Presidents
set a goal of identifying concrete trade and investment opportunities for
U.S. and Russian firms, including in support of Russia's pipeline and
liquefied natural gas development and increased Russian oil and gas imports
to U.S. markets; and targeting the initiation of several such projects no
later than 2008.

The Presidents also instructed their governments to enhance cooperation in
a number of other areas.

Counterterrorism

In the area of counterterrorism, the Presidents:

o Directed the co-chairs of the U.S.-Russian Counterterrorism Working Group
to update their action plan, taking into consideration new counterterrorism
challenges, and to press forward on implementation of action plan items;

o Agreed, because of the growing threat posed by terrorist use of
improvised explosive devices (IEDs), to direct U.S. and Russian experts to
share information on IEDs; and

o Instructed U.S. and Russian experts to facilitate efforts to store
MANPADS more securely, or to destroy them if they are obsolete or otherwise
exceed defense requirements, and to eliminate the illegal trade in such
weapons, building on the MANPADS agreement signed in Bratislava by Minister
Ivanov and Secretary Rice. That agreement provides a bilateral framework
for the United States and Russia to cooperate in the control of
shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that can threaten global aviation if
obtained by criminals, terrorists and other non-state actors.

Space Cooperation

o In the area of space cooperation, the Presidents called for enhanced
cooperation, focusing on the International Space Station and other
projects, including those related to possible lunar exploration.

Humanitarian, Social and People-to-People Cooperation

In the areas of humanitarian, social, and people-to-people cooperation, the
Presidents:

o Called for efforts to further enhance our coordination when responding to
humanitarian emergencies. They tasked their governments to build on
previous collaboration and develop a bilateral mechanism to further improve
coordination of our responses to future humanitarian emergencies and to
convene a joint expert session, with other nations, to develop lessons
learned from the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami;

o Affirmed their commitment to strengthening contacts between our societies
and the citizens of our two countries by increasing the number of students,
teachers, scientists, cultural workers, business people, and people from
various professions who participate in bilateral exchange programs. They
directed their governments to present specific proposals; and

o Called for greater joint efforts in countering the global threat of the
spread of HIV/AIDS by identifying, training, and deploying health care
professionals and raising public awareness. They instructed their
governments to consider the possibility of joint work to combat the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in third countries, at the request of those countries.

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