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Skriven 2006-07-17 23:33:38 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0607172) for Mon, 2006 Jul 17
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Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President V. V. Putin
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 17, 2006

Joint Statement by President George W. Bush and President V. V. Putin


˙˙˙˙˙ G-8 Summit 2006

The United States and the Russian Federation believe that strengthening
their cooperation in civil nuclear energy is in the strategic interests of
both our countries. It will serve as an additional assurance of access for
other nations to economical and environmentally safe peaceful nuclear
energy.

The United States and the Russian Federation are working together to meet
the challenges posed by the combination of proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and international terrorism. We recognize the devastation that
could befall our peoples and the world community if nuclear weapons or
materials or other weapons of mass destruction were to fall into the hands
of terrorists. We are closely cooperating to lessen that unacceptable
danger, including by strengthening the nonproliferation regime and ensuring
the security of nuclear weapons and fissile materials.

Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy

The United States and the Russian Federation are convinced that reliable
and sufficient energy supplies are the cornerstone of sustainable economic
development and prosperity for all nations, and a necessary condition for
maintaining international stability. Today nuclear energy is a proven
technology for providing reliable electric power without emissions of
greenhouse gases, and is an essential part of any solution to meet growing
energy demand.

We share the view that nuclear energy has an essential role in the
promotion of energy security, which is an issue of special concern for the
leaders of the G-8. Advancing nuclear energy will require further
development of innovative technologies that reduce the risk of
proliferation, provide for safe management of waste, are economically
viable, and are environmentally safe.

Being consistent in our approach to assure access to the benefits of
nuclear energy for all nations complying with their non-proliferation
obligations, we have each proposed initiatives on the development of a
global nuclear energy infrastructure, specifically the Russian proposal to
establish a system of international centers to provide nuclear fuel
services, including uranium enrichment, under International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) safeguards, and the U.S. proposal for the Global Nuclear
Energy Partnership to develop innovative nuclear reactor and fuel cycle
technologies.

Following up on these initiatives, the United States and the Russian
Federation intend to work together, actively involving the IAEA, to allow
all nations to enjoy the benefits of nuclear energy without pursuing
uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing capabilities.

The United States and the Russian Federation together with four other
nuclear fuel supplier states have also proposed a concept for reliable
access to nuclear fuel for consideration and development at the IAEA.

We call upon other countries to join us to facilitate the safe and secure
expansion of nuclear energy worldwide. Proceeding from our national
interests and common goals, and recognizing the benefits of civil
commercial nuclear trade, we express our intent to develop bilateral
cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

We have directed our Governments to begin negotiations with the purpose of
concluding an agreement between the United States and the Russian
Federation on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Countering Nuclear Proliferation

We recognize the vital role of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in the prevention of nuclear proliferation and the
importance of the IAEA in implementing safeguards required by the NPT. We
are working with our G-8 partners to make the Additional Protocol an
essential norm for verifying compliance with nuclear safeguards
obligations. We welcome the establishment of the IAEA Committee on
Safeguards and Verification. We are actively fulfilling our obligations
under Article VI of the NPT by substantially reducing nuclear forces as we
implement the Moscow Treaty of May 24, 2002.

We reiterate our support for effective measures to prevent transfers of
sensitive nuclear equipment, materials and technologies to states that may
seek to use them for weapons purposes, or allow them to fall into
terrorists' hands, and will work together to this end.

We reiterate our commitments undertaken under the Bratislava Joint
Statement on Nuclear Security Cooperation of February 24, 2005. We have
made substantial progress in the implementation of those commitments and we
reaffirm our goal of completing nuclear security upgrades by the end of
2008.

We welcome the continued cooperation and the recent extension of the
Cooperative Threat Reduction Agreement to ensure full implementation of the
ongoing projects launched earlier under this Agreement. In this context, we
take note of the start of operations of the Mayak Fissile Materials Storage
Facility. We continue discussions on how best to implement our commitments
to the disposition by each side of 34 metric tons of weapons grade
plutonium.

We applaud the extension of UN Security Council Resolution 1540, the
adoption by the UN General Assembly of the International Convention for the
Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, and the decision by the States
Parties to strengthen the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear
Material.

We will continue to advance the objectives of the Proliferation Security
Initiative, which makes an important contribution to countering the
trafficking in WMD, their delivery means, and related materials. We welcome
increasing international endorsement for the initiative, as was
demonstrated at the High Level Political Meeting in Warsaw. We take note of
the discussion at that meeting on how PSI states can work cooperatively to
prevent and disrupt proliferation finance, in furtherance of UNSCR 1540.

We look forward to reinforcing our partnership with India. We welcome the
important nonproliferation commitments India has made, and India's closer
alignment with the nonproliferation regime mainstream. We look forward to
working with India on civil nuclear cooperation to address its energy
requirements, and on further enhancing the global nonproliferation regime.
We will continue to work together to strengthen the global
non-proliferation regime.

We are especially concerned by the failure of the Iranian government to
engage seriously on the proposals made by the P-5 countries and Germany. In
this context, we stand fully behind the decision by Foreign Ministers on
July 12. We are seriously concerned by North Korea's ballistic missile
tests and urge it to return to a moratorium on such launches, to the
Six-Party Talks, and to full implementation of the September 19, 2005
agreement. The United States and the Russian Federation are actively
working for unity among the UN Security Council members on these sensitive
issues. We will continue consultations with our G-8 partners to strengthen
the global non-proliferation regime.

Through our cooperation in the field of nuclear nonproliferation we seek to
improve the security of our own peoples and of all others in the world
community. In doing so, we are building on the unique historic roles and
responsibilities of the United States and the Russian Federation in nuclear
science and technology, both military and civilian. We are united in our
determination to help make the benefits of nuclear energy securely
available to all for peaceful purposes.

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