October 25, 2007

Geoff Morrell Pentagon Press Secretary Interview with Czech TV Noordwijk, Netherlands

Question: -- Could you elaborate on the Russian stance on missile defense after the proposal in Moscow was made and during this NATO conference this afternoon?

Morrell: I think what Secretary Gates tried to convey to President Putin at that meeting in Moscow a couple of weeks ago was that the missile defense system which we seek to proceed with with the Czechs and with the Poles and all of Europe is designed not as a threat to the Russians, but as a means in fact to protect them as well. And in an effort to win over the Russians, Secretary Gates and Secretary Rice floated a couple of ideas they thought could be helpful, one of which was transparency. Let’s make it clear, let’s show the Russians that this system is not offensive in nature. What better way to convince the Russians of that by inviting them, come to the U.S. and see our system. Come to, if the Czechs, if the Poles agree, come to the Czech Republic, come to Poland and see that this is not an offensive system. And conversely, there would be reciprocity. We, of course, would go to Russia if they were to partner with us and see their systems and so forth.

So this was an effort to become more inclusive of the Russians, but it was made very clear by Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates to President Putin that this offer is entirely contingent upon the Czech government and the Polish government approving such an idea. We would never in any way speak on behalf of the Czechs or on behalf of the Poles when it comes to inviting foreign forces into their countries.

Question: And today’s meeting at NATO-Russia Council, was there anything but missile defense or --

Morrell: They just got out of it, so I’m sorry, I can’t, I don’t have a read-out yet from that meeting. But I think that at each meeting that Secretary Gates has had with any of the Defense Ministers who are here in Noordwijk, he had gone to great lengths to make the same points he made in Prague just a couple of days ago. That is that this idea that he shared with the Russians was always and is always contingent upon the Czechs and the Poles agreeing to allow Russian visitors, inspectors, to come to the missile sites, come to the radar site.

Now one more point that I think is important. It doesn’t have to be Russians that come and see this in order to ensure there’s transparency. It could be the IAEA. It could be electronic television inspections, some other means by which to show the transparency and the fact that this is not an offensive system that would in any way be a threat to the Russians.

Question: Have you already made an official suggestion to the Russian side? Because Moscow has argued that you don’t have any. Can you be a little bit more concrete what their participation is going to be? What it’s going to look like?

Morrell: that’s a very good question. In fact there has been no official proposal whatsoever. This was an idea, a suggestion, that Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates made to President Putin during their meeting. There was nothing formal, in writing, it was at the moment they decided this would be helpful. In fact just before they went into the meeting they concurred and said it might be useful to raise this idea. But there is nothing formal by means of a proposal to the Russians on this.

The United States would not do so without first consulting with the Czech Republic or with the Poles for that matter. So nothing will proceed without first consulting with them.

Question: Do you have any idea what is going to occur—the Russian participation in the project?

Morrell: I think the Russian participation is very much a question mark at this point. One of the reasons why the Secretary has offered this transparency in addition to trying to prove to the Russians that the system is not offensive, is to try to show them our desire to partner with the Russians is real. It’s genuine. We do wish to include them in this proposal. But it remains to be seen whether the Russians wish to participate. So in addition to offering transparency, the Secretary also raised the notion of perhaps activating the missile defense system only at the point at which we believe the Iranian threat, which is the most immediate, is real and is imminent, so that we would proceed, if the Czech government agrees to go forward, we would proceed with building the system but we would not turn it on until it is very clear that indeed there is an imminent threat from the Iranians or any other country that may have missiles that could reach Western Central Europe.

Question: As you are talking about consultations with Czech Republic and Poland, when are you going to make them probably [inaudible] here in Noordwijk, or --

Morrell: I assume they’ve had an opportunity to speak in the larger meetings. There has not been a bilateral with the Czechs because we just left the Minister of Defense a couple of days ago. The Secretary is meeting with the Polish Defense Minister in a few moments so I assume they will discuss this a little bit there, but there has been a change in government in Poland, so that will impact things as well. I think the desire is to proceed with this as quickly as possible, meaning the overall negotiations for a missile defense system. We had hoped to have something completed by the end of the year. The Prime Minister suggested when we visited with him in Prague that he hopes to have something done before he goes to the United States early next year. So the sooner the better as far as we’re concerned, but there has been, once again, no formal proposal with regards to the transparency issue and the Russians and that proposal would not go to Moscow before it first went to Prague or first went to Warsaw.

Question: Thank you.