NRRC 20th Anniversary

This year we are marking the bicentennial of Russia-U.S. diplomatic relations. It gives a perfect opportunity to overview the tremendous distance our nations have traveled together and conclude that we have seen both ups and downs. I am pleased to note that today's occasion – the 20th Anniversary of the Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers – is definitely associated with those ups.

The NRRCs have proved their efficiency as an instrument of transparency and confidence building. Moreover, they have become a reliable mechanism designed to diminish and eliminate the very potential threat of an accidental nuclear disaster.

Indeed, the Centers in Moscow and in Washington made a great contribution to overcome the legacy of the Cold War and strengthen cooperation between our two countries to the benefit of mutual trust and strategic partnership.

The Centers constitute a significant integral part of arms control and disarmament regimes under such fundamental legally binding documents as INF, START and other treaties. It is really important that the NRRCs served as an extremely valuable bilateral means of communication following the horrible terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Let me recall that the idea of creating a direct and functional channel of data exchange goes back to the Caribbean Crisis of 1962. And the first step was taken by the establishment of presidential "hotline" in 1963. After that, it became obvious that a broader link on a working level is needed.

So, based on a principal understanding between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan at their Geneva Summit in November 1986, a historic Agreement on establishing Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers was signed exactly 20 years ago - on September 15th, 1987.

Since the first exchange of missile launch notifications in April 1988, thousands of time-sensitive messages under various international agreements have been annually sent and received by the NRRCs. Effective verification bodies similar to the NRRCs were established in a range of other countries participating in multilateral arms control and international security arrangements.

Certainly, Russia and America are no longer enemies; our countries are strategic partners in combating terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other fields. In this completely changed environment the NRRCs continue to operate with great perfection serving for the benefit of arms control, security and stability worldwide.

I would like to pay tribute to those prominent people (some of them are here today with us) who were the founders of that important link between the two countries, as well as to all officers, who perform their duties twenty-four hours a day at the Centers in our two capitals.

I believe the NRRCs will maintain their role to facilitate the implementation of both existing and future agreements on arms control, including lifetime ones.

I'm also confident that the plans outlined by our Presidents on further reduction of strategic arms will keep the NRRCs busy and engaged. So, everyone working at the Centers can be assured – they won't be fired and left unemployed in any government structure changes or election campaigns. Sentinels that watch day and night the evolving security threats are always needed on duty.

I am glad that today we are celebrating this important benchmark together with our American colleagues and partners. I wish to thank the staff of the State Department, the Pentagon and other agencies for their efforts to make this significant initiative work as reliably and smoothly as the famous Swiss watch.