Russia's Ivanov Backs Arms Treaty Delay
34 minutes ago
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday that
he supported legislators' attempts to postpone ratification of a
key U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty.
Ivanov stressed that he was not withdrawing support from the
agreement, called the Treaty of Moscow, only that he felt it was
not the right time for a vote with war going on in Iraq (news - web
sites).
"Maybe now is not the right moment psychologically to bring this
document up for ratification," Ivanov said.
"If we wait for some time, and concentrate all our efforts on
ending the war and switching over to a political settlement (of the
Iraq crisis), then at a more quiet moment we can quickly deal with
this issue," Ivanov told legislators in the upper house of
parliament, the Federation Council.
He said that the war, which Russia vehemently opposes, could lead
to irrelevant issues clouding the ratification debate.
"This treaty answers Russia's interests. The Foreign Ministry
believes that this document should be ratified and we will present
it for a ratification," Ivanov said.
The treaty, signed in May by Russian President Vladimir Putin (news
- web sites) and President Bush (news - web sites), calls on both
nations to cut their strategic nuclear arsenals by about
two-thirds, to 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads, by 2012.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved the treaty earlier this month.
The move was widely seen as part of a diplomatic effort to win
Russian support for a tougher line against Iraq. But Moscow has
only hardened its position.
U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday that Washington
hopes Moscow won't drag out the ratification, the Interfax news
agency reported. It quoted Vershbow as saying the rift over Iraq
had led to "serious tension" in bilateral relations but adding that
both Bush and Putin had agreed to work to minimize the
damage.
The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, had been expected to
take up debate on the treaty last week, but it indefinitely
postponed a ratification vote because of the threat of an imminent
U.S.-led attack on Iraq.
The treaty is considered more advantageous to Russia than the
now-defunct START II agreement, which specifically banned Russia
from deploying land-based missiles with multiple warheads.
The new deal leaves it to each nation to decide which weapons it
will scrap. That will allow Russia to keep its Soviet-built
multi-warhead SS-18 and SS-19 missiles at the core of its nuclear
arsenal.
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