*EPF207 01/04/00
Transcript: Rubin Readout on Israel-Syria Peace Talks Jan. 3
(Expects all issues to be discussed in this round) (2200)

State Department Spokesman James P. Rubin late in the evening of January 3 gave a telephone readout on that day's Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

Rubin reported that President Clinton and Secretary Albright had separate meetings during the day with Israeli Prime Minister Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shara, and that it was the judgment of the President and Secretary that continuing to have bilateral meetings "was the way to go given where things stood."

Rubin did not rule out the possibility of a trilateral meeting the following day but said there was no decision as to whether the President could return.

Responding to questions about the fact that Prime Minister Barak and Foreign Minister al-Shara did not meet face to face during the day, Rubin said, "There is not a reluctance on either part to have joint meetings. The job of the facilitator here is to try to decide what the right rhythm and pace of this discussion is, and it's been our judgment that during the course of the day these separate meetings have been the best way to proceed."

A face to face meeting with the United States "is not a prescription for a breakthrough necessarily," he added.

Asked if there was progress to report, Rubin responded: "I think there were certainly exaggerated expectations of how easy this would be to achieve an agreement. I personally tried today to dampen that a little bit and, clearly, this is a complex negotiation that can't be scripted procedurally and that one has to be able to adjust one's planned schedule if that is the decision."

Rubin noted that the "context of these negotiations, beginning where they left off, is still the working concept. Obviously, there are different priorities for the different parties ... and we still do expect that all the issues will be discussed in this round of the process. ..."

Following is the transcript of the readout:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Shepherdstown, West Virginia)

January 3, 2000

ON-THE RECORD TELEPHONE READOUT TO PRESS BY JAMES P. RUBIN, SPOKESMAN

Shepherd College
9:40 p.m.

RUBIN: Here's where we stand. The meeting schedule changed during the course of the day. Immediately after the scene on the bridge that you all saw, the President met with Prime Minister Barak, the Secretary met with Foreign Minister Shara. At that point, those meetings broke. There was a short break and then both the President and the Secretary met with Foreign Minister Shara. That went on for another hour or so, then the President met with the Secretary and the rest of the team. Then there was a break in the afternoon and at 5:40 or so the Secretary met with Foreign Minister Shara, from about 5:40 to about 6:40, some of which was a one-on-one.

Then she took a break. She then met with Barak from about 7:15 to about 8:30. That broke. She then went to report to the President. They just finished that discussion, and now the President is going to meet any minute with Foreign Minister Shara.

At that point, we do not at this point expect there to be additional meetings tonight so that should be the last meeting of the night.

Q: Jamie, why shouldn't we conclude that you couldn't get the two to meet face to face?

RUBIN: I don't think it was a question of -- you know, they're here. There is no problem with meeting jointly. They've met jointly in Washington at Blair House. There is not a reluctance on either part to have joint meetings. The job of the facilitator here is to try to decide what the right rhythm and pace of this discussion is, and it's been our judgment that during the course of the day these separate meetings have been the best way to proceed.

Q: How about the conclusion that the rhythm isn't right for them to meet face to face yet?

RUBIN: Certainly that's fine, but that doesn't mean -- meeting face to face with the United States there is not a prescription for a breakthrough necessarily. And so what I'm saying to you is that these meetings have gone according to a different schedule than we set up this morning, and that changes all the time for those of you who have been part of this in the past, and the way the day progressed, the conclusion is that it will be 10 o'clock before the President is finished meeting with Shara and that that is enough for the night.

Q: Can we get from that that perhaps there is going to be another session with the President tomorrow? Will he come back?

RUBIN: We haven't made that decision yet. As soon as the night is concluded, at some point a schedule for tomorrow will be put together. My understanding is he would not be here certainly in the morning and then the question would be in the afternoon whether he returns.

Q: Can you tell us about the dinner arrangements? Who had dinner with whom?

RUBIN: As far as I know, nobody has really had dinner yet. I am under the impression that the Syrians had their iftar as soon as they could eat, and there was never a plan for a formal three-way discussion over dinner. That was a misimpression that was created during the course of the day. So there was never a plan for a three-way dinner tonight.

Q: But there was a plan for a trilateral meeting, correct?

RUBIN: There was an expectation, as I said in my briefing, that there would be a trilateral meeting; but that expectation didn't pan out as a result of the discussions that were held subsequently.

Q: What exactly made you -- what exactly undermined that expectation of a trilateral meeting?

RUBIN: I don't have any specific reason to offer you at this time other than to say that, as a result of the lengthy meetings the Secretary had with the Prime Minister, meeting one-on-one and then meeting with the Foreign Minister for an hour or so, the day progressed and it went later than according to the original plan. As a result of those additional discussions that she had, she just met with the President and they decided the next appropriate step was to meet with Foreign Minister Shara.

I don't have a reason to offer you. I wouldn't exaggerate the significance of it other than to say that it was the President and the Secretary's judgment that continuing to have these bilateral meetings was the way to go given where things stood.

Q: Jamie, is it more procedural, more substantive? Can you give us any help that way?

RUBIN: I think it's fair to say that the procedure and the substance are wrapped together at this stage in the discussions. They have not agreed on a work plan yet for the rest of the week on which groups will meet with which groups on which subjects, and so they are kind of wrapped up together. That's kind of what they're continuing to hammer out right now.

Q: Jamie, is the difficulty again how to begin, from what point to begin?

RUBIN: No, I don't think -- you know, the context of these negotiations beginning where they left off is still the working concept. Obviously, there are different priorities for the different parties, as I discussed earlier today, and we still do expect that all the issues will be discussed in this round of the process. But I just don't have more to offer on that.

Q: Is the US meeting with each separately at the point of which the talks left off?

RUBIN: Sorry. Could you repeat that, please?

Q: Sure. You told (my colleague) that Israel and Syria didn't -- haven't met face to face, of course, at the point of which the negotiations in '96 left off. Is the US proceeding with each side separately from the point at which they left off?

RUBIN: Yes, we have an understanding of where they left off in 1996 and that is the basis on which these discussions are proceeding, and we are having each of our individual discussions on that basis.

Q: Jamie, does the President still think the talks got off to a good start?

RUBIN: I think the feeling is that these are very hard issues, that you can't have a fully scripted procedure in a discussion this complex, and that the day has been serious and substantive. I can't give you a final answer to that because the day hasn't ended yet.

Q: Is the U.S. in touch with Damascus yet? Is it opportune now to begin to talk to Mr. Asad?

RUBIN: Not to my knowledge. As I indicated earlier today, President Asad has told us that Foreign Minister Shara has plenipotentiary power here in Shepherdstown.

Q: Jamie, has there been no trilateral meeting at all apart from the photo op that Clinton had with the two?

RUBIN: Correct.

Q: Will there be one tomorrow?

RUBIN: I don't know yet. I wouldn't rule it out.

Q: Why has there been no trilat?

RUBIN: Again, a trilateral meeting is a form of meeting. It's not the only way to make progress. You can make a lot of progress in proximity discussions as opposed to face-to-face discussions, and the work continues. I don't have progress to report, but I'm just saying that that's only one form and it's been determined so far that, given the pace of the meetings and the way it has unfolded, that it would be not right for a trilateral tonight given the lateness of the hour.

Q: If you don't have progress to report, things don't sound like they're going very well.

RUBIN: I think reporting substantive progress is something that I wouldn't expect to do on the first day of a negotiation like this. I can't remember such a thing in the past.

Q: You've got no progress to report at all? I mean, are we erroneous in concluding that this has gotten off to a rather rough start?

RUBIN: I think there were certainly exaggerated expectations of how easy this would be to achieve an agreement. I personally tried today to dampen that a little bit and, clearly, this is a complex negotiation that can't be scripted procedurally and that one has to be able to adjust one's planned schedule if that is the decision.

Q: Jamie, you're saying you're not ruling out the possibility of a trilat. Presumably, that could take place without the President being present, correct?

RUBIN: That's not impossible. The President could return tomorrow. I don't think that that decision has been made.

Q: Is he going home pretty soon, do you think?

RUBIN: After the Shara meeting we expect him to return to Washington.

Q: Jamie, earlier today you described this week as dealing with issues and in detail and you listed some issues, so you have been out front saying what the issues are. Are they tripping over any particular issue right now?

RUBIN: I just don't think it would be useful to get into what issues are moving and what issues are slowing down. There have not been substantive committee-style meetings where the experts that I told you were here got together and hammered out text or anything. This is the first day. It's designed to set a work plan and an action plan for the subsequent days, and that is what we're still working on.

Q: Do you expect the talks to go a little bit longer now in light of what happened?

RUBIN: Sorry?

Q: Do you expect the talks to last a little bit longer in the light of what happened today?

RUBIN: I never expected this to be a quick exercise, and I think I indicated earlier today that we didn't expect to be able to achieve a core agreement in this round. The process is obviously one whose objective is a core agreement on all of the outstanding issues. But the goal in this round of talks is to make progress towards that end. Today is the first day, and people have been prepared to stay a large number of days, and we'll have to see how that time frame unfolds in the coming days.

Q: So, Jamie, you're saying that the action plan still hasn't been developed yet, which means that you can't get off the ground because you can't even get an agenda, right?

RUBIN: I think that would be an exaggeration. I think that once you set an action plan, that is an important part of the process -- who will meet with whom, when they will report to the President and report to the Secretary. And that's what we're working on today, and I wouldn't say that all is lost or that there has been a breakthrough.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State)
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