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Russia links arms control to missile shield
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-21 08:26 MOSCOW: Russia's foreign minister warned yesterday that US missile defense plans must be taken into account in talks between Washington and Moscow on further reductions in their nuclear stockpiles. Sergey Lavrov spoke as US and Russian negotiators wrapped up their first round of talks on forging a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, which expires in December. The next round of talks will be held in Geneva on June 1-3, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Lavrov said progress could not be made in negotiating a new nuclear arms control deal unless the prospective European missile shield and other US military plans are taken into consideration. Russian officials adamantly opposed the previous US administration's plans for missile interceptors based in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic, saying they feared the missile-defense facilities might lead to a larger system that could give the US a first-strike capability. They rejected the US claim that the plan is aimed at the potential threat from Iran. President Barack Obama has put the missile defense plan on hold, but Russia wants the US to scrap it.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted in an interview with Russian state television broadcast yesterday that the plan is not directed against Russia. She said it would be "stupid" to design a shield against Russia's massive nuclear arsenal, and said the US has offered to work together with Russia on missile defense. But Lavrov's remarks signaled that Moscow is taking a tough posture in arms control talks, which could make it difficult to achieve swift progress. They served as a pointed reminder that Russia does not see a replacement for START as an isolated issue. Lavrov said the arms agreement must mark a "step forward" from the existing agreements that would provide "equal security to both parties and preserve parity in the sphere of strategic stability." He said that the US plans for a missile shield and space-based weapons would upset the strategic balance. He also named Washington's plans to convert some of its nuclear missiles to carry conventional explosives and unidentified "innovative approaches" to conventional weapons as other factors affecting the strategic parity between Russia and the US. Lavrov's statement followed a similar warning from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is widely seen as Russia's strongest political figure. START, signed by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and President George H.W. Bush, led each country to cut its nuclear warheads by at least one-quarter, to about 6,000. The failure to negotiate a replacement pact would leave Moscow and Washington unable to inspect and verify each other's stockpile of nuclear warheads, eroding mutual trust and undermining security. Strategic balance The nuclear disarmament talks between Russia and the US may affect regional global strategic balance, according to defense experts in China. "The issue of nuclear non-proliferation has become a very regional and intricate one, bonding many countries together," said Teng Jianqun, deputy secretary-general of China Arms Control and Disarmament Association. Teng said subjects other than nuclear disarmament may be included in the talks. The START-I treaty covers aircraft, tanks and artillery. AP - China Daily (China Daily 05/21/2009 page11) |
