Joint Press Availablilty with British Foreign Minister Robin Cook and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell

REVISED
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
February 6, 2001

JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY
WITH BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER ROBIN COOK AND
SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL

Benjamin Franklin Room
Washington, D.C.
February 6, 2001

Q: Secretary Powell, just going back to the rapid-reaction force that
Europe is planning, could you say, however, whether you share Secretary
Rumsfeld's concerns that it could destabilize NATO, that it has that
ability unless things are got right, particularly on the planning
process?

And secondly, could you say whether you want British participation in
National Missile Defense, whether you think that it will be necessary
to upgrade the radar station in Britain as part of that defense?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think if we approach the European Security and
Defense Initiative in the way that Robin and I have discussed, with an
understanding that it is firmly imbedded in NATO and we're not
duplicating planning capabilities and that we're adding to the overall
capacity of both NATO and the EU countries, then there's no reason to
see this as destabilizing NATO in any way. In fact, I think it is our
common belief that it will strengthen NATO. And I didn't see Secretary
Rumsfeld's exact quote, but I'm sure it was in that context that we
don't want to do anything that would lead to the kind of result you
suggested.

And the potential exists, working together in consultation with candid
exchange of views on the different issues, we can strengthen NATO and
not weaken NATO. We don't want to do anything that weakens NATO. It
is the bedrock of the North Atlantic relationship between Canada, the
United States and our friends in Europe.

With respect to National Missile Defense, we hope that in the months
ahead as we develop our concept and as we put programs behind that
concept, we will demonstrate to our friends in Europe and to our
friends in Russia and China and elsewhere that this is a very sensible
concept that complements strategic offensive forces and
nonproliferation efforts and command-and-control systems, and
altogether they strengthen deterrence and they protect us from these
dangerous weapons systems that are in danger of proliferating.

And I think if we can make that case, then everybody will want to be a
part and play a role in missile defense, whether it's threatre missile
defense or national missile defense. And so I think the burden is on
us to demonstrate that, and we plan to do so in the programs that we're
going to be coming forward with and in the consultations that we're
going to be having. The Wehrkunde Conference this past weekend that
Secretary Rumsfeld attended gave us an opportunity to continue those
consultations, and Robin and I have had a long talk about it today, and
I look forward to many such conversations with Robin again, with my
other European colleagues, and with my Russian and Chinese colleagues
in due course.