Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=01/06/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RUSSIA NUCLEAR (L)

NUMBER=2-271100

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed recent reports that Russia may have moved tactical nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad, Russia's Baltic enclave. V-O-A's Larry James reports from Moscow.

TEXT: President Putin said reports that Russia had deployed nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad were "rubbish." His comment came in response to a question from a German journalist as Mr. Putin was walking across Red Square on Saturday afternoon with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The German leader arrived in the Russian capital Saturday on a private visit to celebrate the Russian Orthodox Christmas with Mr. Putin and his family.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement denying any tactical nuclear weapons had been deployed in Kaliningrad, which lies between Poland and Lithuania. Russian news agencies carried reports earlier this week quoting the Defense Ministry as saying all of Russia's nuclear weapons are at their permanent stations and have not been transferred anywhere.

The Washington Times newspaper, quoting U-S intelligence sources, said Russia had deployed nuclear weapons to Kaliningrad as an apparent effort to pressure the West following NATO expansion eastward. In 1999, former Warsaw Pact members Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic all became NATO members, despite strong objections from Russia.

In the early 1990s, Russian authorities announced that all tactical nuclear weapons had been removed from Eastern Europe to secure areas inside Russia. It was not clear at the time if that included weapons based in Kaliningrad.

NEB/LDJ/TDW