[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[February 14, 1994]
[Pages 248-253]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With President Nursultan Nazarbayev of 
Kazakhstan
February 14, 1994

    President Clinton. Good afternoon. I'm delighted to welcome 
President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan to the White House today. This was 
our first meeting, and it was a very good one.
    As I said, this was our first meeting, and it was a very good one. 
Over the last year I asked both Vice President Gore and Secretary of 
State Christopher to visit Kazakhstan during their trips to the region. 
Both told me how impressed they were by the great progress Kazakhstan 
has achieved under the strong leadership of President Nazarbayev.
    While there are many aspects to the widening relationship between 
our two nations, one of the most important is our work in nuclear 
nonproliferation. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, there were 
four of the New Independent States, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and 
Kazakhstan, who had Soviet strategic nuclear weapons on their territory. 
One of my highest national security priorities has been to ensure

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that the breakup of the former Soviet Union did not lead to the creation 
of new nuclear states. Such a development would increase the risks of 
nuclear accidents, diversion, or terrorism. That's why when I was in 
Minsk last month, I praised Belarus for working to eliminate its nuclear 
weapons and why last month's historic agreement to destroy over 1,800 
nuclear weapons in Ukraine is so important.
    In the 2 years since Kazakhstan attained its independence, it has 
shown the leadership to meet its international arms control obligations 
and to address the most dangerous legacy of the cold war. Kazakhstan 
signed a protocol in Lisbon making it a party to the START Treaty. In 
July of 1992, Kazakhstan ratified that accord. And last December, Vice 
President Gore had the privilege of being in Almaty when Kazakhstan's 
Parliament voted to accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a 
nonnuclear state.
    Today I was honored when President Nazarbayev presented me with his 
Government's instrument of accession to the NPT. This historic step sets 
an example for the entire world at a pivotal time in international 
nonproliferation efforts. It will affect over 1,000 warheads from SS-18 
missiles, the most deadly in the cold war arsenal of the former Soviet 
Union.
    This step will also allow Kazakhstan and the United States to 
develop a full and mutually beneficial partnership. To strengthen that 
partnership and to support Kazakhstan's economic reforms, I am 
announcing today a substantial increase in the United States assistance 
to Kazakhstan from $91 million last year to over $311 million this year. 
In addition, we are prepared to extend another $85 million in funds for 
the safe and secure dismantlement of nuclear weapons in 1994 and '95.
    President Nazarbayev and I also agreed today to continue our efforts 
to encourage and facilitate trade and investment between our two 
nations. We signed a charter on democratic partnership which states our 
common commitment to democratic values, including the rule of law and 
respect for individual rights. These values were a source of strength in 
both our multiethnic societies.
    The United States and Kazakhstan will also sign agreements today on 
scientific cooperation, space, defense conversion, investment 
protection, and other areas. These are the building blocks of a strong 
and enduring relationship.
    The President's visit here today opens a bright new era for that 
relationship, and the United States looks forward to being Kazakhstan's 
friend and partner in the months and the years ahead. We believe we have 
established the basis for a long-term partnership of immense strategic 
importance and economic potential for the United States.
    President Nazarbayev has shown great courage, vision, and 
leadership, and we are prepared and eager to work closely with him and 
with the people of Kazakhstan.
    Mr. President, the microphone is yours.
    President Nazarbayev. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, the--
[inaudible]--official visit to the United States is a crucial stage in 
the development of the Kazakh-American relationship.
    Today, President Clinton and I had talks that were held in a cordial 
and friendly atmosphere. This has been our first personal meeting, and 
I'm satisfied to state that it has been a fruitful one.
    We have discussed openly a number of important issues of mutual 
interest. At the center of this discussion were the issues related to a 
further development of the Kazakh-American bilateral relationship, the 
latest development in the Commonwealth of Independent States and central 
Asia and strengthening of international security.
    President Clinton and I highly appreciate the dynamics of a 
development of the Kazakh-American relationship. We unanimously have 
agreed that--[inaudible]--enjoy good prospects for a further expansion 
and deepening of our cooperation in various areas.
    The most important one among the documents that were signed today is 
the Charter of Democratic Partnership between the Republic of Kazakhstan 
and the United States of America. This document in everyone's opinion 
marks a principally new phase in our relationship that has given a 
larger scale--[inaudible]--basis. It covers such aspects as politics, 
economy, military cooperation, science and technology, ecology, health 
care, and others.
    I familiarized President Clinton with the situation in our region. 
And I'm satisfied with his deep understanding of Kazakhstan's interest 
to safeguard its security, territorial integrity, and in viability of 
existing borders, to--[inaudible]--stability and to create a favorable 
environment to follow the path of a democratic development and economic 
reforms.

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    These issues are of exceptional importance to us due to the signing 
of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by Kazakhstan as a non-nuclear 
state. Security guarantees provided by the United States are contained 
in the charter as well as our participation in multilateral cooperation 
within the framework of partnership in the name of peace, a program 
initiated by NATO, strengthened our confidence in the future of 
Kazakhstan as a sovereign state.
    During talks, both parties confirmed their interest in an increased 
contribution that American businesses can make and to develop the 
economy of Kazakhstan. The conditions that are necessary for this to 
happen are there. We believe that American companies that have partaken 
in this--[inaudible]--could determine one of a more promising and 
mutually beneficial trends in our cooperation. The list of such entities 
has been submitted to the American business community.
    We also believe that the setting up of the Kazakh-American Business 
Council for Economic Cooperation and to the central Asian funds for 
small business development with the headquarters at Almaty will also 
contribute to obtaining the aforementioned objectives. An entirely new 
aspect of our cooperation will develop when American companies take part 
in a conversion of the defense industry in Kazakhstan. And agreements 
have been made to set up a bilateral committee that will deal with these 
issues.
    I'd like to express my gratefulness personally and on behalf of my 
delegation for the hospitality and warm reception and for the fact that 
all the problems that were discussed found deep understanding. I believe 
that the strategic relationship in economy and politics between the 
United States and Kazakhstan will serve the cause of democracy and 
economic reforms and will also help establish a just order of--
[inaudible]--former Soviet Union.
    I have invited President Clinton to visit Kazakhstan officially, the 
times of which will be agreed on through diplomatic channels.
    Thank you.

Bosnia

    Q. Mr. President, Bosnian Serbs have withdrawn only 28 of the 500 
heavy guns from around Sarajevo. Will NATO carry out its threatened air 
strikes if any of those guns remain in place by the deadline? And also, 
do you foresee expanding the demilitarization formula to other areas of 
the former Yugoslavia?
    President Clinton. The latter issue is something that would have to 
be discussed between ourselves and our allies and the leadership of the 
U.N.
    Let me answer the former question first. I expect that the terms of 
the NATO agreement will be followed. Keep in mind, the Secretary-General 
of the United Nations asked us to take action. We agreed to take action. 
All along the way, the United States made it clear that if we were going 
to take this step, we had to be prepared to take the step. And we were 
assured all along the way that our allies in NATO and that the 
Secretary-General agreed. So I don't believe there is a fundamental 
misunderstanding on that point.
    Let me say, we also have some people here from the press with 
President Nazarbayev, so I'll try to alternate with this lady, I think, 
in the back.

NATO Membership

    Q. How acceptable is the idea of Kazakhstan's integration into NATO?
    President Clinton. Well, first, let me say, I'm grateful that 
Kazakhstan has agreed to participate in the Partnership For Peace. The 
whole idea of the Partnership For Peace is to give countries that are 
not in NATO, that were part of the Warsaw Pact or part of the former 
Soviet Union or were just simply neutral and not in NATO, the 
opportunity to participate in military planning and exercises and to 
increase a level of confidence and security on the part of those 
countries. No decision has been made by NATO yet about when other new 
members will be let in. I think there will be some more new members let 
in, but the thing we're most anxious to do is to move this year--this 
year--with some joint training and exercises and planning.

Kazakhstan Oil

    Q. For all the good feeling between your two countries, is the 
United States going to block the proposed pipeline between Kazakhstan 
and Iran--block international financing?
    President Clinton. Why don't you let President Nazarbayev respond? 
We talked about that.
    President Nazarbayev. That certainly is the question that must be 
addressed to me. Kazakhstan, particularly western Kazakhstan, is

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a very powerful oil area. According to the estimates, there are about 
$25 billion--[inaudible]--of oil and gas--[inaudible]. The first 
American company, Chevron, that a contract with it was signed last 
April, has already started producing oil and selling that in 
international markets. The traditional ways of transporting oil went 
through Russia and Novorossisk and the Black Sea. In the first place, 
that's still the priority for us, and we're going to adhere to that and 
use the existing facilities--and we've got--[inaudible]--agreement with 
the Russian Government.
    However, because they--[inaudible]--is used for political 
speculation, naturally Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, that are oil-bearing 
states, are actively seeking alternative ways. We've got a number of 
alternatives, the first one of which is to build a pipeline south of the 
Caspian Sea through Iran and--[inaudible]--into the Mediterranean, as 
well as through the Caspian Sea from the Caucasus and--[inaudible]--
Mediterranean. The third one is through Iran into the Persian Gulf. All 
these projects are being examined at the moment, and a feasibility study 
is being made. And no final decision has been taken yet.
    President Clinton. I think the--from my perspective, if I might just 
follow up, I was impressed with the fact that President Nazarbayev said 
his first priority was to try to get adequate access to the pipeline 
that goes through Russia. And we discussed what we might do together to 
pursue that goal, and I think we should first.
    Yes, ma'am.

Future World Order

    Q. [Inaudible]--at least one of the options of the possible--
[inaudible]--forecast as to the outcome of the division of the world 
today? At least as far as the two--[inaudible]--are concerned that 
existed in the past, what is the world's division going to be?
    President Clinton. If I knew that, I would be a far smarter man than 
I am. All I can tell you is that we hope is that the world will not be 
polarized in the way it has been in the past. We understand fully that 
neither the United States nor any international organization has the 
power to wipe all the troubles from the world, that as long as there are 
civil wars and people are fighting one another based on differences of 
race or religion or ethnic group or for political reasons, those things 
will probably occur as long as human beings inhabit this planet. But we 
hope the end of the cold war gives us a chance to develop a partnership 
with people all around the world based on shared values and shared 
commitments to democracy and to economic opportunity and to respecting 
borders, neighbors' borders, so that we can focus on fighting things 
that we all disagree with, including the proliferation of dangerous 
weapons and terrorism.
    That is what I hope will happen. That is why the idea behind the 
Partnership For Peace is to give us a chance to have a Europe which is 
not divided for the first time since nation states have occupied the 
territory of Europe. We're doing our best.
    Andrea [Andrea Mitchell, NBC News].

Japan-U.S. Trade

    Q. Mr. President, your own economic report today indicates that our 
trade, our exports with Japan, would improve by only $9 to $12 billion 
of the total amount of our trade deficit, if all the barriers were 
dropped. In that case, why are we considering sanctions? Shouldn't we 
begin looking at our own problems of productivity?
    President Clinton. Well, no----
    Q. And what is the state of your thinking regarding sanctions and 
whether this could lead to a trade war?
    President Clinton. First of all, $12 billion is a lot of money, even 
today. Secondly, it's not a question of American productivity. We now 
know that American productivity is at least as high as that of anyone 
else in the world. Let me explain what that means--the $12 billion--the 
trade deficit would drop by $12 billion if all the barriers were 
removed.
    What that means is that in order for us to move closer toward 
balance, two other things would have to happen which have not happened 
in this country because of the closed system which has existed. We would 
have to customize some products for the Japanese people in the Japanese 
market that would be available then to that market. And secondly, we 
would have to dramatically step up our efforts to market and to pierce 
that market. Then you're looking at much more than $12 billion per year. 
So, I think that that's a very significant thing, much more than $12 
billion once those two changes begin to be made.

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    Also keep in mind the Japanese people today spend 37 percent more 
than Americans do, for example, on average for consumer products and 
services, so that--you've got to factor that in. If they actually were 
paying normal prices for products, goodness knows how much more they 
might buy and what that would do to the trade relationships of the 
United States or Europe, for that matter. This is a very important 
thing. I can only say what I have said already today which is that we 
have reached no decisions. This is what Prime Minister Hosokawa and I 
described as a period of reflection.
    The story today about the cellular telephone issue is purely 
coincidental. That is, that's been an issue now for nearly 5 years I 
think. And the deadline for making a finding of fact, not deciding what 
action will be taken but for making a finding of fact, just happens to 
fall tomorrow. But it is, while it's coincidental, it is a problem which 
is illustrative of our general problem. There is no question that 
Motorola provides a world-class product, fully competitive in quality 
and price on that.
    Anyone else who's here with President Nazarbayev have a question? 
Yes, please. Yes, go ahead.

Kazakhstan

    Q. Mr. President, how does the United States view Kazakhstan among 
other central Asian republics, and what place does it give to Kazakhstan 
within this framework?
    President Clinton. The United States believes that Kazakhstan is 
critically important to our interests and to the future of democracy and 
stability in central Asia because of its size, because of its geographic 
location, near China as well as Russia, as well as so many other 
countries that are important in that area, because of its immense 
natural wealth, because of its progress in promoting reforms, and 
because of its strong leadership. So it's a very, very important country 
to us and a very important part of our future calculations.

Japan-U.S. Trade

    Q. Mr. President, given the strong position you took with your 
visitor from Japan the other day, are you not now really in a situation 
where given the expected finding of fact tomorrow, you just about have 
to impose sanctions?
    President Clinton. Well, I'm going to make a decision within a few 
days. We need to clarify what America's approach is going to be now 
within the next several days. But I think that what's happened in the 
cellular telephone case is a classic example of what the problem is. 
There are a number of options open to us, including some that have not 
been widely discussed that may offer a great promise here.
    And let me also say for those of you who worry about a trade war and 
other things, this is a battle that is raging not just in the United 
States and in Europe and in all other parts of the world that have been 
exposed to the mercantilist policies of Japan, this is a battle that is 
raging in Japan. And there are a lot of people in Japan who want to take 
a different course and may be strongly encouraged by the fact that we 
did not conclude a phony agreement one more time but instead are trying 
to have an honest progress to a better relationship.
    In the interest of equal representation----

U.S. Investment in Kazakhstan

    Q. My question actually is for both of you, sort of a follow-up on 
the oil issue question. President Nazarbayev, your country is going to 
be receiving substantially more aid from the United States. I'll ask you 
bluntly if U.S. oil companies will be receiving more preferential 
treatment in developing your oilfields. Mr. Clinton, I'll ask you if 
that was a key negotiating point.
    President Nazarbayev. I've already mentioned that the first company 
to start work in Kazakhstan was Chevroil, that's conducted negotiations 
with the former Soviet Union for about 4 years. And after the collapse 
of the Soviet Union, we have been able to complete those negotiations in 
the course of only 6 months. International expertise has been made with 
respect to this project, and it's considered to be an internationally 
acceptable one.
    The second consortium was put together in western Kazakhstan and 
such American companies as Mobil Oil, British Petroleum, Agip, total 
altogether about six major oil companies that are going to explore the 
depository fields. That exceeds Tengiz by 6 times. An answer--
[inaudible]--come up with a feasibility study, the priority will in the 
first place be given to those companies, and the major company among 
them is Mobil Oil.
    This is why I believe that these are very serious contracts that we 
have signed, altogether about 70 American companies working in

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Kazakhstan--[inaudible]--oil and gas. They also involve gold and silver 
mining, manufacturing of nonferrous metals, and processing of 
agricultural--[inaudible.] For the first time Philip Morris bought the 
entire stock of a tobacco manufacturing plant, and I believe that's a 
good start.
    President Clinton. The short answer to your question is no, there 
was no quid pro quo. Perhaps I can give a brief but somewhat lengthier 
explanation because I think it's an important question.
    We decided to increase our aid because we thought the money would be 
well spent, because we see the progress of reform, we see the long-term 
commitment, and we see the enormous strategic significance in this 
country and in this President. To be fair on the aid, it might be 
correctly stated the other way around, that is, instead of our 
conditioning their aid on any kind of special deal for our people, what 
we saw was that our people had the confidence, that is our energy 
companies had the confidence in other companies to go there and invest. 
I think there are now 70 American companies with investments in 
Kazakhstan.
    So in that sense, they have sent us a message, and they have told us 
that they believe this is a stable, secure, long-term, positive 
environment and that we ought to be part of helping to make it so.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President's 47th news conference began at 1:56 p.m. in the 
East Room at the White House. President Nazarbayev spoke in Russian, and 
his remarks were translated by an interpreter. The tape did not include 
the translation of President Nazarbayev's remarks.