[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 36 (Monday, September 11, 2000)]
[Pages 2009-2011]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Joint Statement: Strategic Stability Cooperation Initiative Between the 
United States of America and Russian Federation

September 6, 2000

    President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States of America 
and President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation met today in New 
York and agreed on a Strategic Stability Cooperation Initiative as a 
constructive basis for strengthening trust between the two sides and for 
further development of agreed measures to enhance strategic stability 
and to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, 
missiles and missile technologies worldwide. In furtherance of this 
initiative, the two Presidents approved an implementation plan developed 
by their experts as a basis for continuing this work.
    The Strategic Stability Cooperation Initiative builds on the 
Presidents' agreement in their two previous meetings. The Joint 
Statement on Principles of Strategic Stability, adopted in Moscow on 
June 4, 2000, and the Joint Statement on Cooperation on Strategic 
Stability, adopted in Okinawa on July 21, 2000, establish a constructive 
basis for progress in further reducing nuclear weapons arsenals, 
preserving and strengthening the ABM Treaty, and confronting new 
challenges to international security. The United States and Russia 
reaffirm their commitment to the ABM Treaty as a cornerstone of 
strategic stability. The United States and Russia intend to implement 
the provisions of the START I and INF Treaties, to seek early entry into

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force of the START II Treaty and its related Protocol, the 1997 New York 
agreements on ABM issues and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, 
and to work towards the early realization of the 1997 Helsinki Joint 
Statement on Parameters on Future Reductions in Nuclear Forces. The 
United States and Russia also intend to seek new forms of cooperation in 
the area of non-proliferation of missiles and missile technologies with 
a view to strengthening international security and maintaining strategic 
stability within the framework of the Strategic Stability Cooperation 
Initiative between our two countries.
    The Strategic Stability Cooperation Initiative could include, along 
with expansion of existing programs, new initiatives aimed at 
strengthening the security of our two countries and of the entire world 
community and without prejudice to the security of any state.
    START III Treaty and ABM Treaty. The United States and Russia have 
presented their approaches to the principal provisions of the START III 
Treaty and on ABM issues. The United States and Russia have held 
intensified discussions on further reductions in strategic offensive 
forces within the framework of a future START III Treaty and on ABM 
issues, with a view to initiating negotiations expeditiously, in 
accordance with the Moscow Joint Statement of September 2, 1998, the 
Cologne Joint Statement of June 20, 1999 and the Okinawa Joint Statement 
of July 21, 2000 by the two Presidents. They will seek to agree upon 
additional measures to strengthen strategic stability and confidence, 
and to ensure predictability in the military field.
    NPT, CTBT, FMCT, BWC and Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones. The United 
States and Russia reaffirm their commitment to the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as the foundation of the international 
nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament regime.
    The United States and Russia will seek to ensure early entry into 
force and effective implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban 
Treaty. They will continue to work to begin negotiations to conclude a 
Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and to strengthen the Biological Weapons 
Convention. They will continue to facilitate the establishment of 
nuclear weapon-free zones in the world, based on voluntary agreements 
among states in the relevant region, consistent with the relevant 1999 
Report of the United Nations Disarmament Commission, as an important 
avenue for efforts to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation.
    Discussions of issues related to the threat of proliferation of 
missiles and missile technology. The United States and Russia are 
prepared to expand their discussions of issues related to the threat of 
proliferation of missiles and missile technologies. These discussions 
will include annual briefings based on assessments of factors and events 
related to ballistic and cruise missile proliferation. Annual 
assessments will address potential threats to international security. 
With a view to preventing the proliferation of missiles and weapons of 
mass destruction, political and diplomatic measures will be discussed 
and undertaken, using bilateral and multilateral mechanisms.
    Cooperation in the area of Theater Missile Defense. The United 
States and Russia are prepared to resume and then expand cooperation in 
the area of Theater Missile Defense (TMD), and also to consider the 
possibility of involving other states, with a view to strengthening 
global and regional stability.
    The sides will consider as specific areas of such cooperation:
 <bullet>    Expansion of the bilateral program of joint TMD command and 
            staff exercises.
 <bullet>    Possibility of involving other states in joint TMD command 
            and staff exercises.
 <bullet>    Possibility of development of methods for enhanced 
            interaction for joint use of TMD systems.
 <bullet>    Joint development of concepts for possible cooperation in 
            TMD systems.
 <bullet>    Possibility of reciprocal invitation of observers to actual 
            firings of TMD systems.
    Early warning information. The United States and Russia, in 
implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement between the United States 
of America and the Russian Federation on the Establishment of a Joint 
Center for the Exchange of Data from Early Warning Systems and 
Notification of Missile

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Launches signed in Moscow on June 4, 2000, intend to establish and put 
into operation in Moscow within a year the joint center for exchange of 
data to preclude the possibility of missile launches caused by a false 
missile attack warning. The Parties will also make efforts to come to an 
early agreement on a regime for exchanging notifications of missile 
launches, consistent with the statement of the Presidents at Okinawa on 
July 21, 2000.
    Missile Non-Proliferation measures. The United States and Russia 
intend to strengthen the Missile Technology Control Regime. They declare 
their commitment to seek new avenues of cooperation with a view to 
limiting proliferation of missiles and missile technologies. Consistent 
with the July 21, 2000, Joint Statement of the Presidents at Okinawa, 
they will work together with other states on a new mechanism to 
integrate, inter alia, the Russian proposal for a Global Control System 
for Non-Proliferation of Missiles and Missile Technologies (GCS), the 
U.S. proposal for a missile code of conduct, as well as the MTCR.
    Confidence and transparency-building measures. Bearing in mind their 
obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
Weapons, the United States and Russia will seek to expand cooperation 
related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to promote a 
mutually beneficial technical exchange that will facilitate the 
implementation of the CTBT after its entry into force. The United States 
and Russia are prepared to discuss confidence and transparency-building 
measures as an element of facilitating compliance with, preserving and 
strengthening the ABM Treaty. These measures could include: data 
exchanges, pre-notifications of planned events, voluntary 
demonstrations, participation in observations, organization of 
exhibitions, and strengthening the ABM Treaty compliance verification 
process.
    The Presidents of the United States and Russia have agreed that 
officials from the relevant ministries and agencies will meet annually 
to coordinate their activities in this area, and look forward with 
interest to such a meeting in the near future.
    The United States and Russia call upon all nations of the world to 
unite their efforts to strengthen strategic stability.
      

The President of                        The President of
the United States of America            the Russian Federation
 


New York City
September 6, 2000

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement. The transcript released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary also included the Strategic Stability Cooperation Initiative 
Implementation Plan.