Nicholas Burns Quotations

We strongly regret the measures taken by the parliament and government today to, in effect, introduce a state of emergency and to introduce censorship of the Albanian press.

We remind the Burundi government and security forces that respect for human rights and peaceful dialogue should be key elements in their efforts to re-establish security in the country.

We remember what happened in March 2004, ... There is no place for that in U.N.-sponsored negotiations.

What has changed in the 1990s is a changed perception of the world,

We want the Iranians to negotiate, whether it's with the EU-3 or Russia or any other country, on a serious basis.

We are (also) disappointed that Radovan Karadzic is still at large and not in the Hague,

We are going to keep Saddam Hussein guessing. He'll just have to wonder what the United States has in store for him.

We decided that it was in the American interest to bring India into compliance with the standards and practices of the international non-proliferation regime,

We hope very much that we can schedule a date and venue for a briefing on the four-party talks, ... The North Koreans have agreed to that. We just need to schedule it.

We hope very much that this issue can be resolved very soon,

We hope very much for the sake of the Russian republic and the Chechen people that there will be no return to the bloodletting.

We have put those differences behind us, ... We stand ready to work with the new government to remove the differences of the last few years.

We have registered our concerns with the Indian government of course,

We very much hope that these sanctions will not be implemented bluntly in a way that would be damaging to the Iranian people, but it is going to be sanctions that will get the attention of the Iranian government.

We're just going to reserve any kind of commendation for the Belgrade government.

Secretary Christopher believes that, based on his meetings today, that the tone (of the meetings) has been cooperative, that they are off to a good start, but he doesn't minimize the challenges ahead of us.

simply put, the Dayton accords need to be modernized. They served Bosnia well over the last decade, but they were never meant to be immutable or set in stone.

Obviously we did not suggest this deal for Pakistan.

One would have hoped that he (Ahmadinejad) might have chosen a speech with more humility, a speech with a greater inclination to compromise. He was quite defiant ... That did not leave a lot of room for compromise, for diplomacy.

Obviously the Pakistani government isn't thrilled with this relationship, and they've said that publicly.

If we're to maintain our position as a global power, we need a power like India.

If we continue to see policies that absolutely restrict the right of women and girls to be normal people, it will have an effect... on the ability of the international community to lend and to give assistance.

I don't believe we've heard the last word from the Indian government

I can tell you in Washington we have no better partner right now on most of these issues that occupy the Security Council... than the French government.

I don't think anyone would take a country into NATO that had a major territorial dispute within it, in the heart of it, that had not resolved this huge question on the future of Kosovo, ... I don't think there's any possibility of that happening.

He gave a pardon to his son-in-law and then had him executed. He tried to make up with the Iraqi Kurds five years ago, and then tried to destroy them.

There is a historic opportunity for the people of Kosovo now to define their own future,

There is a great deal of frustration in the United States that this problem has not been resolved after such a long time.

There is no deal yet, and there remains the need for additional movement and additional work by both the Israelis and Palestinians before there can be a deal.

There is more of a relationship (between Netanyahu and Arafat) now than there was before,

We're prepared for that debate. We will advise the Congress that it is our very clear judgment that this is a good deal for the United States as well as for India.

To consign it (India) to a place outside that system did not appear to be strategically wise, and has not proven effective,

What you have now, 10 years after Dayton is, frankly speaking, an abnormal situation with the tri-presidency and with the entities controlling so much of the national life of this country,

We are going to ratchet up the pressure step-by-step.

John is working very hard, hand-in-glove with Washington on this.

I think by the time that President Bush visits New Delhi in early 2006, we will see that both of our countries would have met our commitment in this landmark agreement,

I think that will also be a key way for Serbia to escape its past. If Serbia wants to look forward, it has to look backward in order to atone for its mistakes of the 1990s.

It is a unique deal for India. Despite our friendship for Pakistan, there have been proliferation problems of a quite serious nature over the last several years that would make this kind of deal impossible.

Our judgement is that it would not be wise or fair to ask Congress to make such a consequential decision without evidence that the Indian government was acting on what is arguably the most important of its commitments--the separation of its civilian and military facilities

Out administration is fully committed to the India-US civilian nuclear energy agreement,

Part of the purpose of my visit to Delhi this week is to work with the Indian government on a plan that would separate the civil and military nuclear states of India over the coming years, ... Once that plan has been clearly enunciated and once it has been committed to by the Indian government and we begin to see its implementation, it will be a short time before the U.S. Congress enacts the necessary legislative changes to bring this into being, and that will be a welcome moment, indeed.

Our message is clear as a bell to the American private community ... Get out of Zaire before you find yourself in harm's way.

I think if you look at American foreign policy worldwide, the greatest change you will see in the next three or four years is a new American focus on South Asia, particularly in establishing a closer strategic partnership with India. It will be the area of greatest dynamic positive change in American foreign policy.

The actions India committed to undertake are difficult, complex and time consuming,

will not, under any circumstances, tolerate a government installed by force or intimidation in Burundi.

We hope that the Afghan constitution is going to be upheld and in our view, if it's upheld, then of course he'll be found to be innocent.

We hoped they (Chinese officials) would be aggressive in acting to halt the sales, ... but I can't say I have any evidence.

We hope and we trust that that deal will not go forward.

We're calling for their immediate release. We are making this known privately to the Bosnian Serb military commanders, and we're now making it known privately just in the next couple of hours to President Milosevic in Belgrade, and we very much expect that this call for the immediate release of these people will be met.

We have to respect the prerogatives of Congress but we are suggesting India-specific amendments to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

We believe the resulting agreement (with India) advances our strategic partnership and is a net gain for non-proliferation. We do not plan to offer such cooperation to any other country.

We're not there yet. We don't have an agreement yet, ... But I'm confident that they're heading in that direction.

We are convinced that this deal is in our national interest. And the greatest advantage is that it takes a country that is outside the international non-proliferation regime and begins to bring it ... into conformity with the practices of that regime,

We would hope these issues could be resolved before President Bush visits Kyoto in just a couple of weeks time. We expect that will be the case but there's still some remaining hard work that needs to be done.

While not formally part of the NPT regime, India has demonstrated a strong commitment to protect fissile materials and nuclear technology...India has resisted proposal for nuclear cooperation with nuclear aspirants that could have had adverse implications for international security,

We are working with a wide range of countries, not just the EU-3, but all the members of the IAEA and a lot of other countries around the world, to try to create an environment where the Iranians hear one message,

We are working very hard on this agreement on both sides. We have great respect for Indian colleagues with whom we are working, we have been active now for 11 months and there have been unique negotiations, very challenging. But there is a goodwill by both governments, and a commitment by President Bush to see this through towards a conclusion.

When (Christopher) travels to the Balkans late next week and into the following week, he'll be making his point personally. And by then we expect that all prisoners will have been released.

This was an extraordinarily difficult process, ... This is not the end of the reform effort, it really is the beginning of a permanent reform effort that must be under way at the United Nations.

There are issues that we have to resolve before we can have a final agreement. That may take some time.... I don't know how much longer it will take. It could take several days. We have to see how it happens.

We will have to be a little patient and see where the situation leads us this evening,

There is not going to be a rupture in U.S.-Mexican relations.

There is still room for finding a solution through diplomacy,

We will appoint a special American envoy to participate in support of the United Nations in these talks, and we will not favor any outcomes,

We had to compromise ... (but) it's a good beginning.

There is significant support for it on the Capitol Hill. There may be some Congressmen who have doubts about it. But I am convinced that the US Congress will support the agreement,

We fully expect that the IAEA will refer this issue to the United Nations Security Council, where it should be,

We fully expect that the governments of the IAEA will exercise their responsibility,

We welcome the United Nations in the United States. We want the U.N. to stay, and the U.N. is going to stay.

We implore the parties to these negotiations not to use intimidation or the threat of violence, or violence itself as a tactic in the negotiations,

We certainly were given an impression (during my last visit in June) that the arrest of general Mladic was imminent and it did not happen, so we have to judge the Serb government on its actions,

We are very disappointed that general Mladic is not yet given up to the Hague,

We are very clear in our administration ... this agreement has not changed. We are not adding any conditions that we expect the Indian government to meet,

We think it's a highly significant appointment which ought to be welcomed by the detractors of our president's policy.

We see a possibility of creating with India one of the two or three or four strategic relationships we have with anyone in the world.

Us companies will be able to enter India's lucrative and growing energy market, potentially providing jobs for thousands of Americans.

Washington was under obligation to see that NSG countries also undertake requisite steps for similar cooperation with India.

Everything in the documents that have been passed over to the parties on Thursday and Friday ... had been talked about in advance, ... Everything had been negotiated in advance, ... including the question of the makeup of the future government.

Every country in these meetings said that some type of action had to be taken. All of us want to take one collective, multilateral action in New York at the Security Council.

Based on our conversations today, we think we can overcome the problems and I think there is a fair chance there could be a Contact Group meeting on Tuesday

contribute to reducing the tensions that are so evident.

There's no way anybody from the outside can comment publicly and criticize the actions of our government midstream in a negotiation.

The United States is sending a strong signal to all the parties that the United States wants the Dayton accords fully implemented.

The United States is in Vienna today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday) arguing in the nuclear suppliers group that international restrictions on India should be lessened, ... We have already taken certain Indian entities off the proscribed list of the Commerce Department so they can do business with American firms and the United States government. I think by the time President Bush visits Delhi in early 2006 we will see that both our countries will have met our commitments in this landmark agreement and we will see it come to fruition.

The United States has said that we find the Russian proposal to be interesting. And it might be a good way to proceed for negotiation. We've never said that we accept, you know, every detail on that proposal.

I shouldn't go into them because they should remain confidential, but they remain barriers to an agreement. I don't believe they're insuperable.

I should also tell you that India has agreed that in the future, all of its civilian power reactors, thermal reactors and breeder reactors, will be placed under international safeguards.

I've pledged to all of my Japanese interlocutors over the last two days that we would work with them over the next several months to see if it's possible to fashion a plan that would receive General Assembly support in New York, so that Japan could enter the Security Council as a permanent member,

It was the only positive development I can point to.

The Security Council has no option but to proceed with the Chapter 7.

The situation has changed fundamentally on the ground, certainly this week, but I think in general over the last couple of months in Bosnia, ... If the Bosnian Serbs felt at one time they could achieve a military victory in this conflict, they certainly don't believe that today and no one else does either.

Ten years is a long time for a country to be under international stewardship, and it is time now to diminish the powers

Russia has to be part of the solution to this problem. And I think Russia will be. We haven't come to the end of our talks with Russia and other countries on this.

a very important sign that India is a responsible nuclear power.

This is an historic opportunity to shape the future of the country. ... We call on the new leadership to establish an inclusive transitional government leading to elections, and to ensure full respect for human rights throughout the country.

This is a pressure cooker and people are not going to tolerate another five years of not knowing who they are, what country they live in and what their future is.

This is the first time we are saying publicly that the future of the relationship is not adversarial, not rivalry... it's partnership.

This is not the time for business as usual with the Iranian government.

This is no time for the Turkish government to be making wild and dramatic statements. It would be completely out of bounds for Turkey to take this action.

The United States strongly condemns the violence by the Serbian police against the demonstrators who, by all accounts, have demonstrated peacefully.