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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Toby Gati

Aired May 25, 2002 - 07:02   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now joining me from Washington is former National Security Council official Toby Gati. She served as senior adviser on Russia in the first Clinton administration.

Toby, good to see you.

TOBY GATI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL OFFICIAL: Good morning.

PHILLIPS: All right. At any moment now, we may be taking this live news conference out of St. Petersburg, Russia, and we'll want you to hold tight with us, Toby, so we can talk about what's talked about and questions addressed there by the students.

But let's talk about first the treaty that was signed yesterday. Let's talk about the significance of that. And also let's get into what critics are saying about it also.

GATI: Sure. The first thing to remember is it is a treaty, and that's what Russia wanted, and it's going to get a treaty, which will have to be ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Russian Duma.

The treaty is rather vague. It says now within a certain period of time, the U.S. and Russia are going to reduce their strategic offensive weapons to quite a low number compared to where they were, 1,700 to 2,200.

But there's no real provisions for destroying those weapons, which is a problem for the Russian military, and they've let Putin know that. And there's, of course, an opt-out provision, which every treaty has, but since the U.S. did opt out of the ABM Treaty, some Russians are wondering how long this will last.

And it's being touted as the end of the cold war, the last agreement on these weapons. But with the last agreement on arms control may go Russia's last possibility of being an equal with the United States, because it's been arms control where Russia really has been an equal of the United States.

And now we enter a new era when Russia's a much more weakened country, and we have to have a new relationship. And the question is, what kind of relationship? And does the U.S. really care what Russia thinks? PHILLIPS: Let's get into talking about that relationship. But first, one quick question about the treaty, and that is, the storage of these weapons versus the destruction of these weapons. And there's a big fear that there would be possible theft of these nuclear warheads. Is that a possibility? Is that a -- do you see that as a major concern?

GATI: Well, for 10 years the United States has been working with Russia to make sure that the nuclear weapons it has are stored well, and they're not stored well. Sometimes it's possible to enter Russian facilities and without their -- without guards, with fences that aren't very secure. So there's a real concern in the United States and in Russia as well that these weapons are not secure.

That can be nuclear weapons. We're also concerned about chemical and biological weapons, of course.

But I think the real issue here is really one of trust, and the question is, what kind of relationship will we have? And the Russians are saying, If you want to keep those weapons, why do you want to keep your powder dry, so to speak? Is it because you think that we can again turn into an enemy? And if that's the case, then what's all the rhetoric about a new century and a new relationship and we're friends and we're partners?

So I think there's a little bit of, you know, why does the United States need this? Is there another country in the world that can threaten Russia the way -- and vice versa, can Russia threaten the U.S.? And the answer is really no.

So the doubt lingers that somehow that new relationship isn't exactly as solid as all the rhetoric coming out of Moscow would say.

PHILLIPS: All right. As we start to talk more about that relationship, let's bring in our White House correspondent, Kelly Wallace. She's live in St. Petersburg. Hello, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're talking with Toby Gati right now about the treaty. We're going to bring you into this mix. Why don't you go ahead and give us some overall perspective about what's happening there, the signing of the treaty on Friday, reaction it's receiving, pro and con?

WALLACE: Well, Kyra, it's interesting, the two leaders reacting to the summit just a short time ago as they were visiting the Hermitage art museum here. They talked to reporters, both really hailing this summit a success, President Bush saying it met his expectations, President Putin saying all the goals of the summit were met.

Clearly, of course, both leaders hailing this treaty as really opening up a new era of relations between the two countries. There are critics, though, as you and Toby were discussing, and a big concern, of course, is that some of these excess warheads will be stored as opposed to destroyed. That is obviously causing some concern, but the U.S. officials were pushing for that in the case of any major emergency.

Now, as we know, the two leaders getting ready to talk to students at St. Petersburg State University. You'll recall that the two leaders did a similar thing back when President Putin visited President Bush's home, his Crawford, Texas, ranch, back in November, and they took questions from high school students.

They did start this day, though, visiting the cemetery here, marking the 600,000 who died during the siege of Leningrad back during World War II, and there we saw President Bush laying a wreath there to honor those people who lost their lives, and the president writing in a guest book, "May God bless those who died and bless their families. With regards, George Bush."

And the president saying that anyone going to that site should remember the ravages of war. And he was telling report -- he told reporters that this visit is really about peace.

We saw the president and President Putin and their wives a short time later visiting the Hermitage Museum, the largest art museum here in Russia. They looked very interested, looking at paintings and taking in the sights.

And Kyra, there they also talked to reporters, as I mentioned, but talking about another big international issue, tensions between India and Pakistan. And Mr. Bush was asked exactly what he can do or is doing to try to defuse tensions in that region.

PHILLIPS: Kelly...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is very important for President Musharraf to stop -- do what he said he was going to do in his speech on terror, and that is, stop the incursions across the line (UNINTELLIGIBLE) control. It's important that the Indians know that he is going to fulfill that promise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Kelly and Toby, we're going to ask you both to stand by as we bring you now live pictures of President Bush and President Vladimir Putin as they come to us live from St. Petersburg University. They are going to address students, take questions. Let's listen in.

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