Russia warns of pullout from START

MOSCOW, APRIL 30. The U.S.-Russia deadlock over the ABM treaty is threatening to revive the cold war between the two old adversaries with Moscow now saying it will wriggle out of START I and START II if Washington remains adamant on amending the 1972 treaty.

In a stern warning to the U.S., the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, on his arrival here from Washington last night said if the U.S. stuck to its insistence on changing the format of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, Russia would not only opt out of the START I and START II but would also have no talks on the proposed START III.

The START III envisages both sides cutting warheads to 3,500 by 2007 from about 6,000 at present.

Mr. Ivanov also said if Washington went ahead with its plans to develop the so-called National Missile Defence System, Russia would counter the U.S. measures in an `asymmetrical' manner.

In another significant statement, the Foreign Ministry has said the threat of revival of the cold war and an uncontrolled arms race has become real in the wake of the proposed defence system which the U.S. plans to develop in the name of an umbrella against missiles fired by `rogue' states like Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

Russia has expressed apprehensions that the U.S. programme would put such an infrastructure in place that would neutralise Moscow's arsenal. An arms control journal recently revealed the U.S. plans to base 100 missiles each at two sites purportedly to shoot down incoming missiles from `rogue' states.

The Russian Foreign Ministry statement was released here by Novosti after the unsuccessful talks of Mr. Ivanov in Washington with the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, and the Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright, over the ABM issue.

The statement criticised the U.S. industrial giants for seeking profits from new military orders including those relating to the ABM defence system or the Star Wars programme. ``But what is needed here is like in any business to have a clear perception of the risks involved in a deal,'' it cautioned.

``There is still time to avoid committing a fatal mistake by undertaking the Star Wars project, the other name of the proposed revised ABM treaty. The recent improvement in the Moscow- Washington relations is an indication of the fact that considerable potential for bilateral cooperation does exist,'' the Kremlin statement said.

Meanwhile, a senior commander of the Russian armed forces, Gen. Nikolai Zlenko, warned Pentagon that Moscow is ``well informed about and alarmed at the USA's Alaska based R & D and preparatory work on creating a new national ABM network.''

- UNI

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Police officer who arrested Mahatma dead
Next     : Vietnam for greater atonement by U.S.