2004 Press Releases

March 04, 2004 

Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker is in Moldova today for meetings with Moldovan officials, including President Voronin and Minister of Foreign Affairs Stratan, as well as OSCE representatives in Moldova. He arrived late Wednesday evening from Moscow.

Mr. Rademaker is traveling in the region to discuss the Adapted Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty and the commitments made by Russia at the 1999 OSCE Istanbul summit. In his meetings he will underscore the position of the United States and NATO alliance that the Adapted CFE Treaty cannot be ratified until Russia fulfills its Istanbul commitments, including the withdrawal of munitions and troops from Moldova.

On the same issue, Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Elizabeth Jones testified in the front of the U.S. Congress on March 3 saying: "We have been actively encouraging Russia at every opportunity to take the steps necessary to fulfill the commitments it undertook at the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit to remove material and forces remaining in Moldova and to agree with the Georgian government on the duration and modalities of the functioning of its remaining military bases in Georgia. We have made it very clear that ratification of the Adapted CFE Treaty requires Russia first to meet these obligations."