Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism: Joint Statement

Following is the Joint Statement issued by U.S. Assistant Secretary John C. Rood and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, Chairmen of the third meeting of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, upon the conclusion of the June 11-12 meeting hosted by the Government of Kazakhstan: Partners in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism met in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 11-12, 2007. The participants expressed their appreciation to the Government of Kazakhstan for hosting this important meeting and its excellent nonproliferation and counterterrorism record. The Astana meeting was the third meeting of the Global Initiative, consolidating and building on the foundations constructed during previous meetings.

Global Initiative partners first met in Rabat, Morocco, on October 30-31, 2006, to establish a Statement of Principles to combat nuclear terrorism. We gathered in Ankara, Turkey, on February 12-13, 2007, to reaffirm our commitment and further develop a full stale of activities to build the capabilities of participating nations and to take advantage of synergies created through multilateral cooperation. To date, fifty-one partner nations have endorsed the Statement of Principles and are participants in the Global Initiative. Representatives from thirty-eight nations attended the meeting in Kazakhstan, as well as observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union.

Outreach

We are pleased by the large increase in participation in the Global Initiative at this meeting. The expanded participation demonstrates the strong desire of the international community to combat nuclear terrorism and the readiness to strengthen our capacity to prevent the acquisition of nuclear materials and know-how by terrorists.

A Strong Work Program

As a demonstration of the active nature of the Global Initiative, partners linked up with the Conference sponsored by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on International Nuclear Terrorism Law Enforcement in Miami, Florida, USA. The Conference, conducted under the Global Initiative, brought together more than 500 participants from over twenty countries, including the Director of the FBI and the Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service in the Russian Federation.

In addition, partners continued to develop a plan of work for 2007-2008. The plan of work includes activities to support each of the Global Initiative principles, with an emphasis on strengthening our key priorities to include:

• preventing the availability of nuclear material to terrorists;
• improving the capabilities of participating nations to detect, search for, and prevent trafficking in such materials;
• promoting information sharing and law enforcement cooperation;
• establishing appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks;
• minimizing the use of highly enriched uranium and plutonium in civilian facilities and activities;
• denying safe haven and financial resources to terrorists; and
• strengthening our response capabilities to minimize the impact of any nuclear terrorism attack.