Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- <A HREF="aol://4344:3167.missile.21049994.679332128"> AOL News: Rumsfeld in Russia for Missile Defense Talks </A> Rumsfeld in Russia for Missile Defense Talks By Charles Aldinger Reuters MOSCOW (Aug. 12) - Visiting Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in Moscow for talks on Russia's deep opposition to U.S. plans for missile defense, urged the country on Sunday to instead focus on rebuilding its economy. ''If Russia is going to prosper and succeed, which certainly is in the interest of the Russian people and the interest of Europe and the world, they are going to do it because of investment,'' he said ahead of talks on Monday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The day-long security meeting is due to tackle Moscow's opposition to President Bush's missile defense plan along with potential major cuts in the massive nuclear arsenals of both nations. Rumsfeld, who hopes to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before flying back to Washington on Monday, told reporters that the talks would also span increased economic, political and military-to-military ties between the former Cold War foes. ''For the country (Russia) to be seen as an environment that is hospitable for investment by Russians and everyone else in the world, we have to re-fashion the political and economic as well as the security relationship,'' he said. Rumsfeld told journalists traveling with him that proposed nuclear reductions and expanded military, economic and political cooperation could become pillars of a strategic relationship. The talks follow orders from Putin and Bush at a meeting last month in Italy to link discussions on missile defense with Russian calls for very deep cuts in nuclear arsenals. BITTER RUSSIAN OPPOSITION Russia, which has bitterly opposed U.S. plans to build a defense against ballistic missiles, wants to go far beyond the current START-2 nuclear reduction treaty. That pact would cut the arsenals of each country by half to about 3,500 warheads. Putin and Bush are scheduled to meet again in China in October and in the United States in November and the Russian leader, according to reports, may be softening his stand on missile defense if deep nuclear cuts are made. Rumsfeld told reporters that change was hard for two former Cold War enemies. ''It is not something that just happens -- that two countries spend 50 years-plus hostile and then just suddenly accommodate to a new set of relationships,'' he told reporters aboard his aircraft en route to Moscow from Washington. ''It takes some time,'' he said. Russia is hard pressed to pay for maintenance of its nuclear arsenal and reports have said that Putin would like to slash the number of warheads to 1,500 for each side. Rumsfeld told reporters, however, that the Pentagon had not completed a current study of U.S. nuclear forces and he was not ready to discuss specific cuts in talks with Ivanov. ''If you think about the changes in conventional forces between NATO and the Warsaw Pact that have taken place in the last decade... there could be similar changes with respect to offensive nuclear forces,'' he said. ''We have gone a good distance on the conventional side and there is no reason we can't go a good distance on the nuclear side. It is in their interest and in our interest,'' he said. Rumsfeld said he did not know if Russia had changed its strong opposition to a U.S. appeal that the two countries abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty between the United and the Soviet Union. That treaty forbids either country from building a national missile defense. Reut18:11 08-12-01 Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
