Mme. Secretary made some short remarks before meetings today with FM Martynov of Belarus and Italy's PM Berlusconi with whom she is pictured below.
Remarks With Belarussian Foreign Minister Sergey Martynov Before Their Meeting
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StatePalace of IndependenceAstana, KazakhstanDecember 1, 20102010/T36-04
REMARKS
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
And
December 1, 2010
SECRETARY CLINTON: (In progress.) I did. I did. I really enjoyed it so much.
FOREIGN MINISTER MARTYNOV: Well, it’s really a national pride in the (inaudible).
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I can see why. I can understand that. And while the press is here, I want to publicly thank Belarus for the decision that has been made to eliminate the remaining stock of highly enriched uranium. This is a very significant, important step that Belarus has taken, and we look forward to welcoming a delegation to the Nuclear Security Summit in 2012 to commend and celebrate the end of this very important effort.
FOREIGN MINISTER MARTYNOV: Well, thank you very much, Madam Secretary. This move of Belarus is, in fact, an indication of the reflection of (inaudible) systems and responsible policies there of nuclear nonproliferation. You would know that Belarus was the first (inaudible) to the nuclear arsenal of the Soviet Union, to join the NPT without any preconditions. And we continue to work also with the United States to make possible the (inaudible). Thank you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you
Remarks With Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Before Their Meeting
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StatePalace of IndependenceAstana, KazakhstanDecember 1, 2010SECRETARY CLINTON: (In progress) – to talk together about a number of important issues. The United States highly values the relationship that we have with the prime minister and with Italy. We have no better friend, we have no one who supports the American policies as consistently as Prime Minister Berlusconi has, starting in the Clinton Administration, through the Bush Administration, and now the Obama Administration.
Whether it’s on Afghanistan, where he has stood with us and provided unstinting support, or the work that he and President Sarkozy and others have done in Europe to try to stabilize the situation in Georgia and on so many other matters, the United States, Republican and Democratic administrations like, know that they can count on the prime minister to support the policies and values that Italy and the United States share in common.
PRIME MINISTER BERLUSCONI: (In Italian.)
