We welcome Ambassador Jacolin to this Joint Session of the Permanent Council and Forum for Security Cooperation and appreciate his update on Article V.

The United States firmly supports the Article V negotiations under the mandate we agreed last year. That mandate, negotiated under Ambassador Jacolin's leadership sets forth the scope and aims of these negotiations in furtherance of the Dayton/Paris Agreement.

That to us is the key point -- fulfilling the Dayton/Paris Agreement.

As Ambassador Jacolin noted, we have begun serious work in these negotiations aimed at addressing some of the key facets of the region's security challenges.

Our aim continues to be to agree upon measures that will advance the goals of peace and stability throughout the region "in and around the former Yugoslavia."

Mr. Chairman, the United States has expressed its support for Ambassador Jacolin's indicative work program, including its "best guess" of how our work will proceed. We are prepared to subscribe to the goals of this work program.

As we have said in the Article V meetings, we do not believe it would be appropriate to establish a firm deadline for completion of our work, and we appreciate the manner in which Ambassador Jacolin has managed this challenging issue.

As the events of the past year have made clear, there are a number of issues that are not directly related to Article V that can have a significant affect on our ability to make progress.

As we have said in the past, we must therefore seek to ensure that our expectations remain realistic.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.