Russia hails U.S. offer of talks

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MAY 3. Russia welcomed the U.S. offer of talks on strategic stability and plans for unilateral cuts in American nuclear arsenals.

Like India, Russia in its reaction to the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush's speech on May 1, chose to emphasise the positive aspects of the new U.S. vision of national security strategy.

In a surprisingly mild statement, the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor Ivanov, played down Mr. Bush's announcement that he was committed to building a National Missile Defence system, stressing Washington's intention ``to very closely consult with and take into account the interests of other countries, including Russia''.

``The U.S. President stressed in his speech that the United States and Russia should together work for laying the foundations of future international security in the 21st Century,'' the Russian Foreign Minister said.

``We welcome this statement and believe that it sets the stage for constructive dialogue on issues of strategic stability in the interests of our two countries and the international community at large.''

Mr. Ivanov also pointed out that Mr. Bush's plan to reduce the U.S. nuclear arms was ``consonant'' with Moscow's proposal for slashing the Russian and American arsenals to 1,500 nuclear warheads for each side.

Mr. Ivanov reiterated Russia's commitment to ``preserving and strengthening the 1972 ABM Treaty in the interests of international security''.

However, in a slightly perceptible shift of emphasis, he said it was the ``overall architecture of disarmament'', of which the ABM treaty was part, that constituted ``the basis of international security''. Earlier, Russia had insisted that the ABM treaty as such was the bedrock of strategic security.

In a sign of Washington's warming up to Russia, Mr. Bush telephoned the President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday just hours before delivering his speech in Washington.

Following their conversation, Mr. Ivanov announced that the two leaders could meet ahead of the G-7 summit in July. Until now, Washington was sceptical about an early Russian-American summit.

The rather similar reactions in Delhi and Moscow to the Bush strategic doctrine are bound to facilitate the Russian Foreign Minister's talks in India on the tricky issue of the ABM treaty and the U.S. plans to build a National Missile Defence.

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Section  : International
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