Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=02/01/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-272066

TITLE=IVANOV / NUCLEAR SHIELD (L O)

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Russia's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, has called for a dialogue with the new Bush Administration on its plans to build a national missile-defense shield. In a speech to the Geneva-based U-N Conference on Disarmament, the minister proposed alternatives to the U-S missile-defense system. Lisa Schlein has more.

TEXT: Foreign Minister Ivanov spoke in measured, diplomatic tones. Nevertheless, he made clear his government's belief that past and future nuclear disarmament treaties would be jeopardized if the United States builds a missile-defense shield.

He told his audience, mostly diplomats and arms-control experts, that a U-S nuclear shield would undermine the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. He said many arms experts consider that treaty the cornerstone of today's arms-control and disarmament agreements. He spoke through an interpreter.

/// IVANOV ACT / INTERPRETER ///

All attempts to create isolated (islands) of well-being and stability in today's world are illusory and, in our view, doomed to failure. We think it necessary that an active and meaningful dialogue on this topic be resumed with the new U-S administration as soon as possible.

/// END ACT ///

The Bush Administration says it wants to build the missile-defense system to protect America from missiles fired by so-called rogue states, such as Iraq and North Korea. Critics of the system argue that it is unworkable and violates the A-B-M treaty.

Mr. Ivanov said Russia had a whole package of constructive, political, and diplomatic measures to offer as an alternative to the shield. These steps included creating a U-S/Russian data center on missile launches and a global system for the non-proliferation of missiles and missile technology.

Mr. Ivanov added that great advances could be made in nuclear disarmament if the United States dropped its plans to build a missile shield.

/// 2nd IVANOV ACT / INTERPRETER ///

Russia is ready to start immediately on negotiations with the United States of America on the development of a START-III Treaty. The Russian side proposes in a new agreement that even deeper than already agreed reductions of strategic warheads should be undertaken.

/// END ACT ///

The Russian Foreign Minister said his country was prepared to drastically reduce its weapons to 15-hundred nuclear warheads. But he added that such large-scale advances can only be achieved by maintaining and strengthening the 1972 A-B-M Treaty, which he called one of the pillars in reducing global nuclear threats.

/// OPT TO END /// Following his speech, Mr. Ivanov left for the Swiss capital Berne for talks with his Swiss counterpart, Joseph Deiss. The Russian minister is expected to ask the Swiss not to extradite a senior Russian Official, Pavel Borodin, who is being held in a New York jail on money-laundering charges. (SIGNED)

NEB/LS/KL/RAE