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AFP. 12 December 2001. Russia hears calls for nuclear buildup after US decision on ABM. MOSCOW -- Top Russian lawmakers said Moscow was free to stock up on nuclear warheads to Cold War-era levels following a US decision to scrap the 1972 ABM treaty in the face of Kremlin efforts to save the disarmament pact. Deputies argued that Russia now had little incentive to live up to other disarmament commitments and would likely rely on heavy multiple warhead missiles that offered a cheap alternative for preserving nuclear parity with the United States. "Now Russia's hands are untied concerning START I and START II," said State Duma lower house of parliament foreign affairs committee chairman Dmitry Rogozin Wednesday, referring to two key strategic arms reduction treaties. Russia will opt to "preserve and develop its heavy strategic rockets which will be loaded with multiple warheads, something that had been banned by START II," Rogozin told Echo Moscow radio. In Washington, US Senate Majority leader Thomas Daschle confirmed that President George W. Bush had informed Congressional leaders of his decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile pact after failing to find agreement with Moscow. Interfax cited Russian government sources as saying that Moscow has been notified that a US decision to pull out of the treaty in six months could be formally announced as early as Thursday. Russian parliamentarians argued that Bush's decision firmly proved that the interests of Moscow and Washington -- which have appeared to narrow since the September 11 terror strikes on the United States -- could never coincide. "The trust in our relations with America, which had recently improved, has certain limits and we have to keep that in mind," said the Duma's deputy speaker Vladimir Lukin, who has served as Russia's ambassador to Washington. Under the treaty signed on May 26, 1972, at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to limit the number of anti-missile systems on their territory to two: one to protect the capital and the second 1,300 kilometers (780 miles) away to prevent a nationwide system. Russia took over the treaty commitment after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. While mulling the missile system, Bush faced pressure from Europe, US Congressional Democrats and even Secretary of State Colin Powell, who all questioned the wisdom of dropping ABM and upsetting Russia and China at a time when Washington is seeking allies in its global anti-terror campaign. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov confirmed Monday that he and Powell had been unable to breach their disagreement on missile defense and that Moscow has prepared a contingency plan. As early as last year, Putin threatened to counter a US withdrawal from the ABM by abandoning all existing nuclear disarmament agreements and loading up on multiple missile warheads as a defensive measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
