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Ivanov: I would like to say from the outset no questions were put to me after my presentation.
Everything was quite clear and understandable to all. It was unanimously, practically that all the speakers after
my contribution, after my report, all the speakers after me, they pointed out the fact that in the first place they...
For the first time see in present day Russian history a possibility to openly expose our views on the development
of armed forces and key pivotal issues of international security.
This is true that in our political culture previously, something like that was a misnomer and now it's part
of our lives, it's a basic fact of life and everybody has taken it quite positively. The earlier mass media outlet
aired comments... And those mass media are considered to be, by me, to be quite unqualified and they did not
bother even to read anything which is posted a long time ago on the internet and published in the open press.
They were saying that Russia is... Stipulated some kind of preventive nuclear strikes. I was just reading
something like that, quoting that from the text naturally enough. There's no stipulation like that in terms of
nuclear... Preventive nuclear strikes.
There's another thing: Russia reserves the right for itself to utilize in a preventive fashion the military
force. And I did drive home to my partners in detail why we're... And under which conditions and why,
wherefore, this should be done, including in the CIS states.
I have explained to my colleagues that the CIS represents to Russia a very important and sensitive sphere
of security. In the CIS states, there are dozens of millions of ethnic Russians and just Russian nationals. More
often then not, they even live in families...a part of the family live in CIS states or one of them living out in
Russia. Naturally enough, they have a good command of Russian are just ethnic Russian just in those states. It's
so that de facto some were de jure, some were de facto; all of those speak Russian.
To these countries, Russia supplies in large quantities energy supplies at prices which drastically differ
from those at the international market, so I would like to ask our colleagues to take into consideration their
political and military...and political activities, this fact, and nobody was opposing me and everybody was taking
that with an understanding.
Q: hi. You... Perhaps I'm a bit confused about what you just said. You said Russia does reserve the right
to use preventive military force and you seem to suggest and perhaps you said that you do no reserve the right to
use pre-emptive nuclear force, perhaps against it. Is that correct? You do not preserve the right to use pre-
emptive nuclear forces, is that what you're saying?
Ivanov: in fact, you are right, Charlie. In fact, you are right. Russia still regards nuclear weapons as a
means of political deterrence. And in no fashion, in no scenario, there's no mention of a possibility to utilize
such weapons and to go first about utilisation thereof.
As for the military use, we also do not welcome the preventive use of military force, of conventional,
non-nuclear, classic... Classic... Non-nuclear, conventional military force. We also do not welcome something
like that, but in the first place, in actuality, such a phenomenon is in place out in the wider world and we're not
going to give it up on a voluntary basis.
And on that account, we have unequivocally said when we are going to do that if other means, political,
diplomatic, economic, are exhausted, and we have no other option, no other way out, and the lives of our
citizens, compatriots are jeopardized, so the civil and civic and human rights of such people are also jeopardized,
theoretically we do not rule out something like that. And we tell that in open fashion too. We're not shy about
saying that.
Q: my name is Tom Squitieri with USA today. Just a follow-up on that question. As you know the United
States has a policy of pre-emptiveness strikes that could include the use of a nuclear weapon. I want to make
sure I understood what you just said. Russia's policy is not like the United States' policy, it is different.
Ivanov: it is.
Q: okay. Therefore, do you believe it is fair for one nation, in this case the United States, to have such a
policy and no other nation in the world to have a similar policy?
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