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| U.S. Sends Russia Proposals | |
| 2008-11-07 | |
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration sent Russia proposals aimed at revising a nuclear-disarmament agreement and assuaging Moscow's growing opposition to a U.S. missile-defense system for Europe, according to senior American officials.
This week, the State Department communicated to Moscow the outlines of an enhanced program to allow Russian military officials greater access to U.S. missile-defense installations in Europe. "We remain hopeful that we can find a solution" to address Russia's concerns, said John Rood, the State Department's acting undersecretary for arms control. Mr. Rood said he plans to meet his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, in Moscow this month to directly discuss the Bush administration's proposal on missile-defense. The American said he plans to discuss with Moscow a new U.S. proposal to revise the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, which governs the numbers of long-range nuclear weapons Washington and Moscow can possess. The treaty, signed in 1991, expires the end of next year. The U.S. proposal, delivered to Moscow last month, seeks to reduce further the total number of nuclear warheads, rather than just the long-range nuclear weapons each country possesses, Mr. Rood said. Russia is seeking to expand the treaty to include a reduction of the conventional forces both sides can deploy. Mr. Rood said a resolution wouldn't occur on the Bush administration's watch. He said he hoped the delivery of a draft proposal would help to get the "ball rolling" for President-elect Barack Obama's administration, which takes office Jan. 20. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |