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Disarmament Documentation'Not Proceeding Smoothly': Russian Foreign Minister Remarks on Nuclear Reduction Discussions, March 1'Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Ivanov's Interview to Russian Media, Rome, March 1, 2002,' Russian Foreign Ministry transcript, Document 369-02-03-2002, March 2. Question: How is work progressing in the preparation of a new START Treaty? Minister Ivanov: I informed the Italian Prime Minister of the talks which are now being conducted between Russia and the USA on the reduction of strategic offensive arms based on the understandings reached between the Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush, last year. We believe that the new Treaty should bear a legally binding character for both sides, subject to ratification in the legislative bodies of the two countries. We have fixed the levels of reduction for nuclear warheads to 1,700-2,200 within 10 years. Agreement was reached that the questions of verification of the reductions should be dealt with on the basis of the norms set in the START I Treaty. Two rounds of talks have already taken place. A third one will be held soon. On individual questions we have a rapprochement of positions. Yet questions remain on which the positions diverge. And in the first place this concerns the elimination of nuclear warheads and their means of delivery. If during the talks some dead-end situations arise that will require the involvement in the negotiation process of the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia and the USA, we will be ready at any time to hold a meeting, including in a third country, in order by joint efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution. We are firmly disposed to reach appropriate understandings by the visit of President George W. Bush to Russia [in May] and sign the START Treaty. We expect also to adopt a political declaration on a new framework for strategic relations between Russia and the USA. The Russian-American talks are not proceeding smoothly, as [is to] be [expected] when such complicated issues are discussed. But for the present I see no necessity of an urgent meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The deadline for signing the START Treaty has been fixed by the Russian and US Presidents, and we are working in this direction. We will be doing everything necessary for agreements to be reached. But we are not going to sign any documents which would run counter to the interests of our national security just in order to meet a particular deadline. Note On February 27, the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesperson, Alexander Yakovenko, answered questions on the same theme from journalist at the Itar-Tass news agency: Question: How do you assess the progress in the work on preparing a Draft Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms? Yakovenko: The second round of Russian-American talks has just been held in Moscow at experts' level [February 19], focusing mainly on the discussion of this issue. The sides got down to practical work with the draft documents' texts. The Russian and American sides submitted their reciprocal proposals. There is some progress. First of all, a common understanding was reached that a treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive arms will bear a legally binding character and the sides will submit it for the consideration of their legislative bodies. The duration of the treaty has been fixed at ten years. Agreement has been reached that it will be based on the verification mechanisms of the existing START I Treaty and supplemented with new transparency and confidence measures with respect to nuclear warheads, the post-reduction levels of which must be 1,700-2,200 units. Active work is under way also on a second, very important document - the declaration that a new strategic relationship is to be formed between Russia and the USA, by which the main areas and lines of the two countries' cooperation in the political, economic and military-political fields will be stated, in particular, for the creation of a RF [Russian Federation]-NATO Council at 20 mechanism. Yet a number of serious outstanding issues still remain. The main thing now - the Russian side adheres to just this view - is to agree on real, not "virtual" strategic arms reductions and limitations that would be ensured by proper measures of control and generally lead to predictability and the consolidation of strategic stability and international security. That's what the world community is expecting of Russia and the United States now. We consider it important to reflect in the treaty also the interconnection between strategic offensive and defensive arms, on which the Russian and US Presidents agreed in Genoa on July 22, 2001. Question: How soon is it being planned to consider this range of questions at the level of heads of the Russian and US foreign affairs agencies? Answer: The Russian and US Presidents defined as a priority task the preparation of a new Russian-American agreement on radical strategic offensive arms reductions by the upcoming visit of President George W. Bush to Russia. But a lot now depends on the readiness of the American negotiators to realize the presidential accord on effective, radical reductions in strategic offensive arms under adequate control. Source: Alexander Yakovenko, the Official Spokesman of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Answers Questions from Itar-Tass News Agency Regarding a Russian-American Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Arms, Russian Foreign Ministry Transcript, Document 340-27-02-2002, February 27. © 2002 The Acronym Institute. |