Secretary of State Colin L. Powell Joint Press Availability with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
For Immediate Release
March 1, 2001


Brussels, Belgium
February 27, 2001

Q: Mr. Secretary, do you now know more about the details of the
Russian proposal, if it's a proposal, for missile defense? Do you see
it as a serious one? Is it an attempt simply to throw the U.S. off
track? Is it an attempt to generate discord with the Alliance? And
are the Allies a little more adjusted now to this program?

SECRETARY POWELL: I got very good responses from all of my colleagues
this morning on missile defense. I think there is a common
understanding within the Alliance that this is a real threat, and this
is a threat that must be looked at, not only by the United States, but
by the Alliance. The Russian proposal I think was noteworthy in the
fact that, as a result of this proposal, they are saying to us they
recognize the nature of this threat as well and want to work with us on
it. The details, the programmatic details of the proposal, are still
quite sketchy and I know they are working their way through it.
Minister Ivanov and I talked about it last week and I look forward to
further discussions with him on it - exactly what they have in mind,
the nature of their proposal. And at the same time, I will share with
them as we go along the nature of our conceptual thinking and the
proposals that we might come up with. So I think there has been
progress and a greater understanding, not only within NATO, but between
NATO, the United States and Russia, of the nature of the threat and the
need to do something about it.