US Agrees To Limits To Missile Defense: Ivanov

May 21, 2002
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the United States will pledge to limit the development of its missile defense program in a declaration on Russian-US strategic relations to be signed this week.

"The declaration will clearly state that the US missile defense system will be limited," Ivanov told a session of the State Duma lower house of parliament on Tuesday.

US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are due to sign a new nuclear disarmament treaty reducing Russian and US nuclear stockpiles to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads for each side over the next 10 years.

They are also due to sign a separate, broader declaration on strategic relations during their Friday meeting in the Kremlin.

Washington had previously denied that Bush would sign any agreement in Moscow placing limitations on the proposed US missile defense program, which Russia has furiously opposed.

Ivanov failed to specify what type of limits Washington had agreed to place on its proposed missile shield, which is still being developed.

But Ivanov said the document forbids the United States from using the missile program against Russia's national interests.

Washington has long argued that the shield was a defensive weapon aimed at preventing a limited attack from "rogue states" like North Korea and Iraq, and in no way threatened Russia's own nuclear potential.

Ivanov further noted that the disarmament treaty will allow Russia to load multiple nuclear warheads on its long-range missiles, thus addressing one of its primary strategic security concerns.

The new nuclear disarmament treaty that will be signed Friday allows Russia "to load multiple warheads on its intercontinental ballistic missiles," Ivanov said.

This "lowers our concerns" about nuclear parity between Russia and the United States that arose following Moscow's ratification of the START II nuclear disarmament treaty two years ago, Ivanov said.

"We have the first legally binding treaty to be signed by the US administration," said Ivanov.

The two sides "have created favorable conditions for ensuring national security," said Ivanov. "This is a period of unprecedented activity in our international activities."

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