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CNN Live At Daybreak
Powell Meeting With Top Russian Officials
Aired May 14, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also today, Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with top Russian officials. He's trying to smooth over some disputes ahead of a presidential summit.
CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva is covering the Powell visit in Moscow -- good morning, Ralitsa.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The secretary of state arrived late last night in Moscow, following a brief visit to Saudi Arabia, which was preceded, as you've been reporting, by some terrorist attacks that claimed many lives, including the lives of Americans. Here in Russia, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, issued a statement linking the attacks in Saudi Arabia with a terrorist attack that occurred on Monday in the Russian breakaway republic of Chechnya.
The Russian government has been trying to link its war with separatist rebels in Chechnya with the international war against terrorism. That is a sphere where Russia and the United States agree on, they are cooperating very closely on, and analysts say that that is the sphere that they're going to try to use to smooth over their relations, with strains over the U.S. led war in Iraq. The Russian president adamantly opposed to the use of military action against Iraq.
And just now we received some information from the Russian news agency Interfax. Quoting an observer there in the talks that are going on between Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, that source telling us that the secretary of state has said that he hopes that the differences that the two countries have over Iraq can be resolved during the two summits that the Russian president and the U.S. president will have one at the end of this month in St. Petersburg, the other one the beginning of next month in Evian, France. He hopes that they will resolve their differences.
Their differences being on that draft U.N. resolution. Russian wants to see U.N. inspectors verify that there are no weapons of mass destruction. Also, it wants a central U.N. role in Iraq. So that's what they're working on and we will have more details as we get them -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks very much, Ralitsa, reporting live from Moscow this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 14, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also today, Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting with top Russian officials. He's trying to smooth over some disputes ahead of a presidential summit.
CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva is covering the Powell visit in Moscow -- good morning, Ralitsa.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The secretary of state arrived late last night in Moscow, following a brief visit to Saudi Arabia, which was preceded, as you've been reporting, by some terrorist attacks that claimed many lives, including the lives of Americans. Here in Russia, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, issued a statement linking the attacks in Saudi Arabia with a terrorist attack that occurred on Monday in the Russian breakaway republic of Chechnya.
The Russian government has been trying to link its war with separatist rebels in Chechnya with the international war against terrorism. That is a sphere where Russia and the United States agree on, they are cooperating very closely on, and analysts say that that is the sphere that they're going to try to use to smooth over their relations, with strains over the U.S. led war in Iraq. The Russian president adamantly opposed to the use of military action against Iraq.
And just now we received some information from the Russian news agency Interfax. Quoting an observer there in the talks that are going on between Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, that source telling us that the secretary of state has said that he hopes that the differences that the two countries have over Iraq can be resolved during the two summits that the Russian president and the U.S. president will have one at the end of this month in St. Petersburg, the other one the beginning of next month in Evian, France. He hopes that they will resolve their differences.
Their differences being on that draft U.N. resolution. Russian wants to see U.N. inspectors verify that there are no weapons of mass destruction. Also, it wants a central U.N. role in Iraq. So that's what they're working on and we will have more details as we get them -- back to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks very much, Ralitsa, reporting live from Moscow this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
