[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
[March 21, 1997]
[Pages 343-344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Russia-United States Joint Statement on European Security
March 21, 1997

    Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin discussed the present security 
situation in the Euro-Atlantic region. They reaffirmed their commitment 
to the shared goal of building a stable, secure, integrated and 
undivided democratic Europe. The roles of the United States and Russia 
as powers with worldwide responsibilities place upon them a special 
requirement to cooperate closely to this end. They confirmed that this 
cooperation will be guided by the spirit of openness and pragmatism 
which has increasingly come to characterize the U.S.-Russian 
relationship in recent years.
    Recalling their May 1995 Joint Statement on European Security, the 
Presidents noted that lasting peace in Europe should be based on the 
integration of all of the continent into a series of mutually supporting 
institutions and relationships that ensure that there will be no return 
to division or confrontation. No institution by itself can ensure 
security. The Presidents agreed that the evolution of security 
structures should be managed in a way that threatens no state and that 
advances the goal of building a more stable and integrated Europe. This 
evolution should be based on a broad commitment to the principles of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as enshrined in the 
Helsinki Final Act, the Budapest Code of Conduct and other OSCE 
documents, including respect for human rights, democracy and political 
pluralism, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, and 
their inherent right to choose the means to ensure their own security.
    The Presidents are convinced that strengthening the OSCE, whose 
potential has yet to be fully realized, meets the interests of the 
United States and Russia. The Presidents expressed their satisfaction 
with the outcome of the Lisbon Summit of the OSCE and agreed on the 
importance of implementing its decisions, both to define further the 
goals of security cooperation and to continue to devise innovative 
methods for carrying out the growing number of tasks the OSCE has 
assumed.
    They underscored their commitment to enhance the operational 
capability of the OSCE as the only framework for European security 
cooperation providing for full and equal participation of all states. 
The rule of consensus should remain an inviolable basis for OSCE 
decision-making. The Presidents reaffirmed their commitment to work 
together in the ongoing OSCE effort to develop a model for security in 
Europe which takes account of the radically changed situation on the eve 
of the 21st century and the decisions of the Lisbon Summit concerning a 
charter on European security. The OSCE's essential role in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and its ability to develop new forms of peacekeeping and 
conflict prevention should also be actively pursued.
    In their talks in Helsinki, the two Presidents paid special 
attention to the question of relations between the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization and the Russian Federation. They continued to disagree on 
the issue of NATO enlargement. In order to minimize the potential 
consequences of this disagreement, the Presidents agreed that they 
should work, both together and with others, on a document that will 
establish cooperation between NATO and Russia as an important element of 
a new comprehensive European security system. Signed by the leaders of 
the NATO countries and Russia, this document would be an enduring 
commitment at the highest political level. They further agreed that the 
NATO-Russia relationship, as defined in this document, should provide 
for consultation, coordination and, to the maximum extent possible where 
appropriate, joint decision-making and action on security issues of 
common concern.
    The Presidents noted that the NATO-Russia document would reflect and 
contribute both to

[[Page 344]]

the profound transformation of NATO, including its political and 
peacekeeping dimension, and to the new realities of Russia as it builds 
a democratic society. It will also reflect the shared commitment of both 
NATO and Russia to develop their relations in a manner that enhances 
mutual security.
    The Presidents recalled the historic significance of the Treaty on 
Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in establishing the trust necessary 
to build a common security space on the continent in the interest of all 
states in Europe, whether or not they belong to a military or political 
alliance, and to continue to preclude any destabilizing build-up of 
forces in different regions of Europe.
    The Presidents stressed the importance of adapting the CFE Treaty. 
They agreed on the need to accelerate negotiations among CFE parties 
with a view to concluding by late spring or early summer of 1997 a 
framework agreement setting forth the basic elements of an adapted CFE 
Treaty, in accordance with the objectives and principles of the Document 
on Scope and Parameters agreed at Lisbon in December 1996.
    President Yeltsin underscored Russian concerns that NATO enlargement 
will lead to a potentially threatening build-up of permanently stationed 
combat forces of NATO near to Russia. President Clinton stressed that 
the Alliance contemplates nothing of the kind.
    President Yeltsin welcomed President Clinton's statements and 
affirmed that Russia would exercise similar restraint in its 
conventional force deployments in Europe.
    President Clinton also noted NATO's policy on nuclear weapons 
deployments, as articulated by the North Atlantic Council on December 
10, 1996, that NATO members have ``no intention, no plan and no reason'' 
to deploy nuclear weapons on the territory of states that are not now 
members of the Alliance, nor do they foresee any future need to do so. 
President Clinton noted NATO's willingness to include specific reference 
to this policy in the NATO-Russia document. President Yeltsin spoke in 
favor of including such a reference in the document.
    The Presidents agreed that the United States, Russia and all their 
partners in Europe face many common security challenges that can best be 
addressed through cooperation among all the states of the Euro-Atlantic 
area. They pledged to intensify their efforts to build on the common 
ground identified in their meetings in Helsinki to improve the 
effectiveness of European security institutions, including by concluding 
the agreements and arrangements outlined in this statement.

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement.