Russia softens ABM stance

Associated Press And The Washington Post

MOSCOW – Russia’s defense minister said Tuesday that Moscow would consider making changes to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signaling an apparent easing of Russia’s opposition to U.S. plans to build a national missile defense system.

The statement by Sergei Ivanov – President Vladimir Putin’s right-hand man – came a day before President Bush’s national security adviser was to arrive in Moscow for talks building on a new security initiative. Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to meet with Ivanov today and Putin on Thursday.

Bush and Putin announced Sunday in Genoa, Italy, that the United States and Russia would link talks on missile defense with discussions on reducing both sides’ strategic weapons.

That unexpected announcement was seen as an indication that Washington and Moscow were moving closer in their long and intense dispute over U.S. proposals for a missile defense system, which would violate the terms of the 1972 ABM treaty that Russia says is a keystone of global security.

Ivanov, one of Putin’s closest political associates, said on Tuesday, “If the experts come to the conclusion that some changes in the treaty won’t harm the national security of Russia, then I will report that to the president,” according to the Interfax news agency.

The ABM treaty allows each country only one limited missile-defense system, on the premise that neither country would launch a nuclear first strike if it cannot protect itself from retaliation. Russia says abandoning the treaty would spark a new nuclear arms race.

The United States doesn’t intend to amend the ABM treaty to allow for the development of a missile defense system but will instead seek Russia’s agreement for both countries to withdraw from the accord, U.S. administration officials said Tuesday.

If Moscow doesn’t assent to mutual withdrawal, the officials said, the United States would seek to replace the treaty with a political declaration about the permissibility of missile defenses. But Bush officials repeated on Tuesday that this substitute wouldn’t be a new, full-blown arms control treaty.

Should Russia balk at both mutual withdrawal and a joint statement, the Bush administration would be forced to announce its unilateral pullout from the treaty. Such a move is allowed on six months’ notice.