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Putin pushes U.S. for new weapons treaty

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 28, 2006

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin urged the United States on Tuesday to open talks on a weapons treaty to replace the key START agreement, seizing the initiative in what Russia considers the neglected sphere of arms control less than three weeks before meeting President Bush in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"We call for the renewal of dialogue on key weapons reduction issues - first of all, we propose to our American partners to launch negotiations on replacing the START treaty," Putin said, saying it was necessary to help reverse what he called a period of "stagnation" in disarmament.

The treaty, signed in 1991 by the United States and the Soviet Union, limits the number of various types of vehicles and warheads that could be deployed by either side, and it contains measures both sides can take to inspect and verify reductions. The agreement, which also provides verification procedures for the subsequent 2002 Moscow Treaty on strategic reductions, expires in December 2009.

Daryl Kimball, director of the private Arms Control Association, said neither the United States nor Russia had shown much interest in a follow-up treaty. He called Putin's call "very, very significant."

"It could kick-start a process that has been essentially moribund," Kimball said.

Alexander Pikayev, a senior analyst with the Moscow-based Institute for Global Economy and International Relations, said the 2002 treaty would have been "hanging in the air" without START's verification procedures being in effect. He said Putin's call was unexpected, and it appeared to stem from his concern that with presidential elections coming up in both countries in 2008, the two governments would need extra lead time to get an agreement in place by the following year.

Russia will host a summit for the Group of Eight nations July 15-17.

Putin, who was delivering a speech to Russia's diplomatic corps, also called for ties between the two powers to be on a more equal footing.

"Relations between such powers as Russia and the United States must be built exclusively on the basis of equal rights and mutual respect," Putin said.

Senator: North Korea not ready for missile launch

WASHINGTON - North Korea has not completed the steps needed for testing a long-range missile, a leading senator said Tuesday after a private briefing from Defense Department officials.

"There are certain steps that would have to be taken if it were imminently to be launched. And those steps, as yet, have not taken place," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Warner said North Korea would have to "remove certain infrastructure" before a missile could be launched, though he did not specify what he meant. Satellites would detect those steps, he said.

Last week U.S. officials said the missile appeared to be fully assembled and fueled, though they later said it was unclear how ready the North Koreans actually were.

[Last modified June 28, 2006, 02:12:25]