Remarks after Meeting with President Saakashvili

I expressed the very deep thanks of President Bush and Secretary Powell and Secretary Rumsfeld for Georgia’s contribution of troops to Iraq. This is a very important issue for the United States, that Georgia is such a strong partner in the Global War on Terrorism.

Secretary Powell is in Iraq today, which makes the support of the Georgian people for the Georgian troops in Iraq even more important. We also talked about several other very important strategic issues of mutual interest to Georgian and the United States.

The East-West energy corridor is of very strong strategic importance to both the United States and Georgia, as well as to Azerbaijan and Turkey, as it has been for many years. I was able to see construction of the pipeline today in Georgia. It is a very, very impressive project that has taken into account the very strong and proper environmental concerns of the people of Georgia. I am convinced, following the discussions we’ve had with President Saakashvili and with his team that the outstanding issues will be resolved, and the pipeline will be able to be completed on time.

We also discussed the importance of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all of Georgia. We very much support Georgia’s efforts to provide humanitarian support to South Ossetia, but at the same time we think it is very important to support Georgia’s statement—the statement of President Saakashvili--that there will be no military confrontation around South Ossetia or any other part of Georgia. I heard the same thing yesterday in Russia. In Moscow, the Russians want no military confrontation related to any part of Georgia, including and especially South Ossetia. And, of course, the United States does not want this. But we do want prosperity and unity for all of Georgia.

I’d be glad to see if you have any questions you’d like me to address.

Rustavi 2: Can you comment: yesterday was a rather tense night in South Ossetia. What’s your position, what is the background of this development, how can we resolve this situation? Is there any possibility of military operation?

Asst. Sec. Jones: You’re right; it was a very tense night. There was fighting that should have not have taken place. We are deeply concerned about that and it should not be repeated. We believe that the important thing at this point is to promote political engagement and military disengagement in South Ossetia. The political engagement of the parties is very important, and I believe that there is the political will on the part of those involved to engage, and certainly the United States is prepared to support that process in any way the parties would wish us to.

Question: Concerning the pipeline construction, there are serious claims among the Georgian population that the BP contractors are not complying with the provisions of the contract. Will the U.S. be involved in resolving this issue?

Asst. Sec. Jones: The U.S. has been involved from the very beginning in the negotiations involved in the political agreements and the technical agreements that were necessary in order to create the possibility of the pipeline going through three countries: from Azerbaijan, through Georgia, to Turkey. The United States has been deeply involved in every aspect of the pipeline negotiations—on the political side, as well as on the commercial side. We are completely convinced that all of the work that the pipeline company did-- the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Company did--under British Petroleum, were completely appropriate. We had detailed, intensive negotiations throughout the process on the environmental issues, on the security issues, and on other issues with the financial institutions that are supporting the pipeline. Each of the international financial institutions, each of the insurance companies that provide political risk [insurance] demand detailed plans and must approve those detailed plans before they will approve their involvement in the pipeline. So the Georgian people can be very assured that this pipeline has the best possible technology and has the best possible security arrangements of any pipeline in the world.

Reuters: The U.S. government and the parties to the conflict, they support the idea of peaceful resolution of the conflict. However, the situation, which is currently in that zone, is currently very pregnant with tensions and aggravations. Will the U.S. government suggest a new approach to the parties, as well as to Russia, which is an active party in these developments?