Press Availability With German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier After Meeting

I'm very happy about the fact that this is actually the second meeting of the Middle East Quartet in a very short period of time. I would like to let you know that in the discussions that we've just had, we both agreed on the need for the international Quartet to have been revitalized of late. I think given the present situation, we need to see the international community speak with one voice in the Middle East.

I'd like to use this opportunity to thank you for this, Condoleezza, for the commitment and the engagement on the ground, your dedication that you have shown in order to work for a rapprochement of the Israelis and the Palestinians. We had opportunity to talk about your impression from the talks with President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert, talks that I admit took place under difficult circumstances.

The process of forming a government, a Palestinian government on the one hand and outstanding questions to be addressed on the other hand, the future government of the Palestinians -- what consequence is that going to have for the international community and the Israelis, the details of which still have to be defined. The talks between Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, and with the participation of the United States of America, that is, with your participation, the fact that these meetings actually took place is something that we owe very much to your personal efforts and engagement. And the fact that they took place is something that we welcome.

For the time being, where it's too early to assess outcomes or results, I can only take it to be progress, the fact that both sides are talking directly to each other and exchange their views on the outstanding issues. This is indeed a first step in my eyes, a first step that comes at a critical stage and thus, it is important that this step at this critical stage has come about because as we all know, and this is valid this time around too, trust and confidence -- and this is something that we urgently need if the talks are to continue, if the process of rapprochement is to continue, trust and confidence can only be evolved and developed if you talk to each other more often and less about each other or one another.

We will continue to stay in touch on what's going on in the region and we will talk about the contribution the Quartet can make. We will do so later today during the meeting of the Quartet and think on the one hand about how our concrete contributions, our measures can evolve, what contribution we can make, especially how we can contribute to making come true the objectives that we share -- that we, the Quartet members -- that is, how can we bring about an independent Palestinian state, how can we lay the necessary preconditions, create the necessary preconditions, because we want to see these two people live in two independent states peacefully side by side.

It is indeed a difficult process and we're all aware of the fact that it's going to continue to be difficult for some time to come. Thus, we have to share a great degree of realism, not have exaggerated expectations of those talks. The members of the Quartet are firmly convinced to use -- to make use of the opportunities that offer themselves up. This was basically the most important issue on our agenda today in the bilateral talks that we've just concluded.

And of course, we also touched on a number of other issues, amongst them my recent trip to the Southern Caucasus, which took me to Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia and of course, we also talked about the situation in Kosovo after the proposals of Martti Ahtisaari have been submitted and how the status process is to continue with the necessary participation of the Security Council. Thank you very much indeed.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you, Frank-Walter, for once again welcoming me here to Berlin. We will have a meeting later on of the Quartet and I think it is very good that the Quartet has met regularly and been revived and your leadership of that in the presidency of the EU is very much appreciated.

We have had bilateral talks this afternoon in which we had an opportunity to talk about the issues that Frank-Walter has mentioned. I was particularly interested in his trip to the Southern Caucasus. We all hope that there could be a new push for perhaps some agreement finally on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. We talked some about the situation in Georgia and we spoke also about Iran and the desire to have Iran accede to the international community's conditions and the Security Council resolution. So we did have a discussion of that issue as well. But this was principally a discussion about our joint efforts in the Middle East and I look forward to expanding those discussions when we talk with the members of the Quartet this afternoon. So thank you very much and I guess we can take questions.

MODERATOR: Many thanks. We have time for four questions. The first question goes to Mrs. Sue Pleming from Reuters.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) as Russia suggests to lift the aid embargo on the Palestinians. And even though Hamas is in the proposed unity government, would it not be missing an opportunity to push the peace process forward if you did not get engage this government?

SECRETARY RICE: We will have a chance to discuss the situation in the Middle East this afternoon. But let me just note that it's more than a year ago now that the Quartet in London agreed on a set of principles that should govern the formation of any Palestinian Government and there's a reason for that. Those are not principles that are put there to be an obstacle. They are put there because they're foundational for peace. It's very difficult to imagine a circumstance in which you have peace talks but one party doesn't recognize the existence of the other or the right of the other to exist. It's very difficult to imagine that peace is going to be promoted if there is not a renunciation of violence, and so that's why the Quartet principles are what they are.

We've said -- all of us -- that we will await the formation of the new government before making any decisions about what to do because we don't want to make premature decisions. I did mention that in my talks in Jerusalem I emphasized the importance of continuing to press ahead with Mahmoud Abbas who is the President of the Palestinian Authority who went to the Palestinian people and was elected by them on the basis of the acceptance of international agreements that go back more than a decade for Palestinian leaders that do accord with the Quartet principles. And so we will have our discussion but I think it's very clear why the Quartet principles on which we settled more than a year ago are still so critically important to progress in peace.

MODERATOR: The second question is to (inaudible).

QUESTION: (Inaudible) and I would like to know from the Secretary of State, after --apparently Iran is not willing to set reliable sign and following the demands of the resolution of the UN Security Council. How much time will be given Iran now and what should their actions be in the American point of view?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, the Iranians have unfortunately not acceded to the international community's demands and we will have to consult, of course, as Germany is a member of the European Troijka that has been a part of these discussions. We will consult with all of our partners and we'll have to decide how to move forward.

I just want to emphasize again that the best course would be for Iran to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities so that we can return to negotiations. That is the entire purpose of having the pressure on the Iranian regime is so that the Iranian regime can make better choices about how to engage the international community. I would reiterate as well that in May of last year we offered, the Bush Administration offered, to reverse 27 years of American policy to engage in the context of the six with our Iranian counterparts. I've said I would meet my Iranian counterpart anyplace, anywhere, anytime should the Iranians decide to suspend their activities.

And so that and the fact that there is a very positive package that the six countries have put together that should incent Iran to engage in a positive way with the international community. I think we're all still hopeful that the day is going to come when the Iranians decide to pursue that course, rather than one of confrontation.

MODERATOR: Mr. Charlie Wolfson, CBS.

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, on Iran -- I'm sorry, on Iraq, the British have indicated today that they're going to be withdrawing some of their forces from Basra, the Danes have made a similar announcement. Is this an indication of the end of the coalition and has there been any discussion between the Bush Administration and the British about moving some of the British forces to Baghdad to help in the surge?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, there have been discussions, of course, with the British Government about the situation in Iraq and the British decision. And by the way, the Danes are associated with the British there, so these are not, in that sense, two separate decisions, but two decisions that are linked. The British have done what is really the plan for the country as a whole, which is to be able to transfer security responsibilities to the Iraqis, as conditions permit.

I would just note that the United States, the deployment of the American forces is in an area in which the circumstances are somewhat different, more complicated. The threats are more complicated. You have an al-Qaida threat in the area in Al Anbar province, you have of course, the particular brand of sectarian violence in Baghdad. But we believe that we have under the President's new strategy the right collection of forces, the right composition of American and Iraqi forces to deal with those problems and to give the Maliki government an opportunity to demonstrate that it can provide population security and that it can then have breathing space for a political reconciliation, national reconciliation. So the British have been terrific and I think that Prime Minister Blair has made clear that he -- they will be looking out over the next several months, based on conditions on the ground and we look forward to continued discussions with the British about that.

QUESTION: (Inaudible)

SECRETARY RICE: No, the coalition remains intact. And in fact, the British still have thousands of soldiers deployed in Iraq in the south and any decisions that they make are going to be on the basis of conditions. But it is the plan that as it is possible to transfer responsibilities to the Iraqis that there would be a -- that coalition forces would no longer be needed in those circumstances.

MODERATOR: Is there a question from a German journalist?

Mr. Williamson, Financial Times, Germany.

SECRETARY RICE: I'm sorry. There you are. Okay, great.

QUESTION: Question for the Secretary of State. Secretary Rice in Europe and especially in Germany there was criticism namely that the United States before their decision to station certain missile defense elements did not consult and discuss this issue early enough with Russia. And for that reason, there was a rather strong reaction on the part of Russia, which might be understandable. Did this topic play a role in your discussions today? And also, I'm sorry if I may, how are you consulting with Russia on this issue?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, we did discuss this issue and I had the opportunity to talk to Frank-Walter about how long we have been consulting with Russia about this issue. And in fact, these discussions go back to the spring of 2006. We have had no less than 10 formal contacts with the Russians about the missile defense deployment and the prospective deployment in Poland and in the Czech Republic of interceptors in Poland and radar sites in the Czech Republic. These discussions have gone all the way to the level of minister of defense. I myself have discussed this with Russian officials several times in more informal settings. We've had briefings of the NATO-Russia Council. There's been a lot of consultation on this issue.

But if I may, I'd just like to make a couple of points. The first is that, of course, Poland and the Czech Republic are independent countries that make their own decisions, and the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic have decided to participate in missile defense.

Secondly, these missile defenses are for purposes having to do with post-9/11 threats. And I'll tell you, I used to do this for a living and I was a specialist on strategic stability, on arms control, on the mutually assured destruction, on how many warheads it took to dance on the head of an SS-18 or on an MX missile. That's what I did for a living. And anyone who knows anything about this will tell you that there is no way that ten interceptors in the Czech Republic or in Poland and radar sites in -- I'm sorry, ten interceptors in Poland and radar sites in the Czech Republic are a threat to Russia or that they are somehow going to diminish Russia's deterrent of thousands of warheads.

And so this is a missile defense system that is for limited purposes. We have had the opportunity to explain that to Russia. We have had the opportunity to deal with that at technical levels, including with the head of the Missile Defense Agency of the United States making a presentation around this issue.

And so I think it's unfortunate that the Russian head of the Strategic Rocket Forces would come out and say that somehow Poland the Czech Republic will now be on the target list of Russia. I think that was an extremely unfortunate comment. But we will continue to talk to Russia about these issues. I think everybody understands that with a growing Iranian missile threat which is quite pronounced that there need to be ways to deal with that problem and that we're talking about long lead times to be able to have a defensive counter to offensive missile threats.

And so I had a chance to talk to the Minister about that and I appreciated very much the fact that he was interested in what, in fact, we had done to consult with the Russians.

QUESTION: Thank you.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

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