Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 08/22/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=RUSSIA / U-S ARMS (L)

NUMBER=2-279593

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A U-S official has given Russia an unofficial deadline to agree to changes in the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. V-O-A's Larry James in Moscow reports the U-S official says the United States will withdraw from the accord unilaterally if Russia does not agree to make changes

TEXT: U-S Undersecretary of State John Bolton said that if the two countries cannot reach agreement by the time President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in November, then the United States is prepared to act alone and pull out of the pact.

Speaking on Echo Moskvy radio, Mr. Bolton said that if it is not possible to reach an agreement, then, as he put it, "in the not too distant future, we would exercise our right under the treaty to give notice of withdrawal."

Mr. Bolton said that withdrawal is not violating the treaty. The treaty allows each nation to withdraw, provided they give the other six months notice.

Mr. Bolton's comments were broadcast following two days of talks with Russian officials on U-S plans to build a national missile defense system. The United States says such a system is not aimed at Russia but rather at, what it calls "rogue" countries such as Libya, Iraq, and North Korea.

A missile defense system is prohibited by the A-B-M treaty, which the United States describes as an outdated relic of the Cold War. Russia insists that the A-B-M pact remains the cornerstone of international stability.

Mr. Bolton is the fifth senior American official to visit here in a month.

Last month, Russia and the United States agreed to link talks on missile defense with reductions in nuclear arms. Russia is known to be eager to sharply reduce its costly nuclear stockpiles.

Some analysts have argued that if the United States wants Russia to agree to an American missile defense system, then the United States had better be willing to make concessions in the talks on nuclear arms reduction.

But some analysts here believe Russia's goal is not to find a solution to the A-B-M impasse but rather to maneuver the United States into a position where it will be the one to scrap the treaty unilaterally. The analysts suggest that doing so would be a diplomatic victory for Russia because it could point an accusing finger at the United States as the cause of potential strategic instability in the world. (Signed)

NEB/LDJ/KL/JWH