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Diplomacy in Action: Cheney-Powell Trips
Aired January 26, 2004 - 06:04 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell are separately meeting with U.S. allies in Italy and Russia. Cheney will address the Italian Senate and is holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The war in Iraq is expected to be on the agenda.
And Powell is in Moscow, where he is holding meetings with top Russian officials.
We have two reports, beginning with CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci.
Alessio -- is the vice president still meeting with the Senate?
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Indeed he is. I believe he is still talking at the library of the Italian Senate in front of the Italian top leadership here, including the deputy vice prime minister, the defense minister, the head of the Senate, the head of the Chamber of Deputies. Anyway, the entire political elite is now listening to the speech of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Italy, of course, is a great ally of the United States in the war against terrorism, and indeed the war in Iraq. The Italians did not participate with troops in the war, but are now -- have sent now a contingency of at least 3,000 troops to Iraq to support the post-war effort led by the United States.
And indeed the Italian government here is hoping that this unwavering support that the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has shown for the U.S. president, George W. Bush, and his policies in Iraq will translate, if you want, into economic gains. And indeed, when later today the vice president and the prime minister will meet, Mr. Berlusconi is expected to eventually put forward not necessarily specific requests, but a hope that Italian firms will be included or will be awarded contracts to rebuild Iraq.
In his address to the Italian Senate, the vice president defended again U.S. policies in Iraq. He said that the threats must be met where they are, where they come from. And indeed, his whole speech centered very much on the fact that that the war on terrorism still continues, still has a lot of challenges ahead, and that inaction is not an option.
Again, the vice president later today is meeting with the Italian prime minister.
Tomorrow, he will also meet with John Paul II -- Pope John Paul II here at the Vatican behind me.
Back to you -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Alessio Vinci, thanks very much.
Our Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, is covering Secretary Powell's trip to Moscow. She joins us from there -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Fredricka, Secretary Powell already has met with the foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, and now just about at this time he is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
You know, when they meet, they usually talk about relations and how well they are doing. But it's very notable that on the day that Secretary Powell is here an article by him appeared in this newspaper, the very respected "Izvestiya" (ph). And it was quite critical of what is going on internally here in Russia.
The quote from Secretary Powell is saying that "Certain developments in Russian internal politics and foreign policy in recent months have given us pause. Russia's democratic system seems not yet to have found the essential balance among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Political power is not yet fully tethered to law."
And although he didn't say it specifically, that seemed to be an obvious reference to the recent parliamentary elections that took place December 7. They were criticized by international organizations for pulling out all the stops in order to help the pro-Putin party win.
He also expressed concern about the situation with the media here in Russia and the situation in Chechnya.
And in the end, he said -- notably, he said, in the end, the partnership between the United States and Russia is not based on personalities, but by common interests and values. And that is the message that the United States is going to get across, trying to get across, that values are what makes this relationship and not just a friendly relationship between President Bush and President Putin -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jill Dougherty in Moscow, thank you very much.
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 January 26, 2004 - 06:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell are separately meeting with U.S. allies in Italy and Russia. Cheney will address the Italian Senate and is holding talks with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The war in Iraq is expected to be on the agenda.
And Powell is in Moscow, where he is holding meetings with top Russian officials.
We have two reports, beginning with CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci.
Alessio -- is the vice president still meeting with the Senate?
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Indeed he is. I believe he is still talking at the library of the Italian Senate in front of the Italian top leadership here, including the deputy vice prime minister, the defense minister, the head of the Senate, the head of the Chamber of Deputies. Anyway, the entire political elite is now listening to the speech of Vice President Dick Cheney.
Italy, of course, is a great ally of the United States in the war against terrorism, and indeed the war in Iraq. The Italians did not participate with troops in the war, but are now -- have sent now a contingency of at least 3,000 troops to Iraq to support the post-war effort led by the United States.
And indeed the Italian government here is hoping that this unwavering support that the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has shown for the U.S. president, George W. Bush, and his policies in Iraq will translate, if you want, into economic gains. And indeed, when later today the vice president and the prime minister will meet, Mr. Berlusconi is expected to eventually put forward not necessarily specific requests, but a hope that Italian firms will be included or will be awarded contracts to rebuild Iraq.
In his address to the Italian Senate, the vice president defended again U.S. policies in Iraq. He said that the threats must be met where they are, where they come from. And indeed, his whole speech centered very much on the fact that that the war on terrorism still continues, still has a lot of challenges ahead, and that inaction is not an option.
Again, the vice president later today is meeting with the Italian prime minister.
Tomorrow, he will also meet with John Paul II -- Pope John Paul II here at the Vatican behind me.
Back to you -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Alessio Vinci, thanks very much.
Our Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, is covering Secretary Powell's trip to Moscow. She joins us from there -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Fredricka, Secretary Powell already has met with the foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, and now just about at this time he is scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
You know, when they meet, they usually talk about relations and how well they are doing. But it's very notable that on the day that Secretary Powell is here an article by him appeared in this newspaper, the very respected "Izvestiya" (ph). And it was quite critical of what is going on internally here in Russia.
The quote from Secretary Powell is saying that "Certain developments in Russian internal politics and foreign policy in recent months have given us pause. Russia's democratic system seems not yet to have found the essential balance among the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Political power is not yet fully tethered to law."
And although he didn't say it specifically, that seemed to be an obvious reference to the recent parliamentary elections that took place December 7. They were criticized by international organizations for pulling out all the stops in order to help the pro-Putin party win.
He also expressed concern about the situation with the media here in Russia and the situation in Chechnya.
And in the end, he said -- notably, he said, in the end, the partnership between the United States and Russia is not based on personalities, but by common interests and values. And that is the message that the United States is going to get across, trying to get across, that values are what makes this relationship and not just a friendly relationship between President Bush and President Putin -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jill Dougherty in Moscow, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
