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US holds off on civilian nuclear pact with Russia

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-09-07 13:14

Algiers - Now is not the right time for the US to move forward on a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday.

Her comment increased speculation that US President Bush is planning to punish Moscow for actions against Georgia, a former Soviet republic, by canceling the agreement. Such a move is being planned, according to senior Bush administration officials, but is not yet final.

"The time isn't right for the Russia agreement," Rice told reporters while flying from Tunisia to Algeria during a visit to North Africa. "We'll be making an announcement about that later."

US-Russian relations have cooled considerably since last month's military standoff between Russia and Georgia. On Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the war has shown the world that "Russia is a nation to be reckoned with."

Traveling in Italy, US Vice President Dick Cheney pushed back against Moscow, saying: "Russia's actions are an affront to civilized standards and are completely unacceptable."

The nuclear deal was signed in May by US and Russian officials and is now before the US Congress. It would give the US access to modern Russian nuclear technology and clear the way for Russia to establish itself as a lucrative center for the import and storage of spent nuclear fuel from American-supplied reactors around the world.

Such a deal was seen as crucial to boosting relations with Russia, and to fulfilling Bush's vision of increasing civilian nuclear energy use worldwide as a way to combat rising energy demands and climate change.

Withdrawing the agreement from Capitol Hill would have little effect. The deal probably would not have been approved before Bush's term ends in January.