09/28/2002 | AST

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2002/13798.htm


QUESTION: Can I go back to Iraq for one second? Beth Jones, next week, is going to Turkey and then on to Ukraine. We can talk about the Ukraine thing a little bit later, but I want to talk about her trip, her visit in Turkey. Presumably, Iraq will be a subject of discussion there; is that correct?


And also, did the Turks tell you when you were arranging this that Tariq Aziz was going to be in Ankara at this exact same time that Beth Jones is going to be there?


MR. BOUCHER: I know Beth certainly knows because she mentioned it to me this morning. Our Assistant Secretary Jones is going to be traveling in Turkey September 29 to October 1st, Ukraine October 1st and 2nd. As our Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, she keeps in close touch with the countries in the region, particularly important allies and friends like Turkey. And in Turkey, she will have discussions on a full range of bilateral and regional issues.

......


QUESTION: We dropped Ukraine before you got to it. Is Beth Jones' visit to Ukraine related to the supposed sale to the Iraqis?


MR. BOUCHER: The visit of Assistant Secretary Jones is -- at a different tab. The visit of Assistant Secretary Jones is to talk about US-Ukrainian relations, clearly in the context of our ongoing policy review towards Ukraine and President Kuchma. It's not the "visit of experts" that had been proposed, but certainly we will take up the issues of the Kolchuga sale to Iraq, the agreement to sell Kolchuga to Iraq, and consider, in that context, the Ukrainian offer to have experts come out.


I think it's important to remember that we have always urged Ukrainian officials to be as transparent, as forthcoming as possible on these questions. Unfortunately, I have to note that Ukraine, the Government of Ukraine has not been candid in the past with us on this issue. We're considering the possibility of a visit by technical experts, but before proceeding we would want to have confidence that Ukrainian officials are prepared to address this issue in a transparent way, and that appropriate understandings about the scope of work and access were in place in order for the effort to be productive.


So these issues will be taken up by Assistant Secretary Jones as she travels.


QUESTION: When will she be going?


MR. BOUCHER: I think I just gave the dates -- 1 and 2 October.


QUESTION: Can we try something else?


QUESTION: I would like to follow up. Has the administration done any assessment of what it would mean if Iraq had this system? Do you know --


MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure the appropriate military experts have. I don't have anything like that to share with you, though.