US-Russia to hold arms talks in January
( 2001-12-18 10:20 ) (7 )

The United States and Russia will begin talks in January on when and how low to cut each side's strategic nuclear arms, the defense chiefs of both countries said Monday.

Smiling and joking at a news conference in Brussels, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Russia's defense minister, Sergei Ivanov, said the two nations are closer than ever despite an American decision to pull out of an anti-missile defense treaty.

The action does make it imperative that the two nations move forward with the massive cuts in their respective strategic nuclear weapons arsenals that each side has previously announced, Ivanov told reporters.

In January, the two countries will begin technical discussions on both a timetable and the levels for those cuts, Ivanov said.

Each side has said it will cut its number of nuclear warheads to somewhere around 2,000 from the current 6,000 or so.

Russia believes that the United States should not unilaterally withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, but US President Bush's announcement of plans to do so last week were not a surprise, Ivanov said.

He told reporters who asked about the US decision on the ABM that the issue never came up during the two men's talks.

Russia has no fears for its own security, Ivanov said. Instead, it worries America's decision could prompt other countries to decide that they, too, can pull out of any international agreements they dislike, the Russian defense minister said.

Earlier, Rumsfeld told reporters it will be important for the two nations to focus on ``transparency and predictability, which both countries recognize ... as important for our respective populations to feel comfortable as we make that dramatic change.''

China also expressed concern over Bush administration's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. A US delegation headed by Assistant Secretary of State Avis Bohlen met in Beijing with Chinese officials.

She told China the Bush administration is planning a limited missile defense system not directed against China, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

``We felt the discussions were productive. Both sides indicated they're ready to continue their dialogue on these issues in order to enhance our mutual understanding,'' Boucher said.

Russia has said it was disappointed by Bush's announcement last week that the United States will pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. But President Vladimir Putin also said the move does not threaten Russia.

Ivanov said Monday that Russia had plans to develop its Strategic Missile Forces ``which were drafted long before'' the US decision. The statement was released before his meeting with Rumsfeld.

Bush wants to pull out of the treaty because he wants to develop a national missile defense system.

Bush tried to strike a deal with Putin to allow the United States to expand testing for such a system. But Russia said that the ABM pact is the basis of all nuclear-reduction treaties.

Rumsfeld has robustly defended the decision. He told the leaders of Russia he visited over the weekend that the US decision would not create an arms race but help stabilize the world.

Secretary of State Colin Powell also said on Sunday that good relations with Russia will continue despite the ABM pullout decision.

Over the weekend, the defense secretary visited American troops inside Afghanistan, and with Hamid Karzai, prime minister of the country's new interim government.

Rebuilding Afghanistan into a stable nation won't be easy, Rumsfeld said on the trip, the first by a top US official to the country newly freed from the rule of the Taliban. But the United States wants ``to be as helpful as we can.''

Rumsfeld told US troops their task is to ensure terrorists face punishment for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

There's no way to know how long it will take to finish the job and find Osama bin Laden, he said.

In Kabul, meanwhile, the US flag was raised over the American Embassy Monday, marking the reopening of the post that was abandoned almost 13 years ago. ``We are here, and we are here to say,'' said special envoy James F. Dobbins.