Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/29/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-289213

TITLE=RUSSIA / RUMSFELD (L)

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov say they have made some progress toward joint nuclear arms cuts. V-O-A's Sonja Pace in Moscow reports the two officials made the announcement after more than two hours of talks in the Russian capital.

TEXT: The two men emerged from their talks at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport with positive assessments, but no details.

Mr. Ivanov told reporters the talks focused largely on proposals that the Russians handed the Americans some five days ago. He said some progress was made.

His words were echoed by Mr. Rumsfeld, who added the talks would continue in Washington later this week.

Neither Mr. Rumsfeld nor Mr. Ivanov would say if an agreement would be ready for signature by the time U-S President Bush and Russian President Putin meet in Moscow next month.

Russia and the United States have agreed to slash their nuclear stockpiles by about two-thirds over the next decade. They have been negotiating the details, but one of the stumbling blocks has been the American insistence to "store" some of its de-commissioned weapons rather than destroy them.

Mr. Rumsfeld's discussions here were the latest in a series of meetings between senior American and Russian officials, as both countries prepare for next month's presidential summit.

Moscow was the last stop on Mr. Rumsfeld's four-day, five-nation tour, which included Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan.

Mr. Rumsfeld thanked Central Asian leaders for their support for the U-S-led war against terrorism, and urged their continued cooperation. In Afghanistan, he met with U-S and allied troops at Bagram airbase outside Kabul, and held talks with interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai. Mr. Rumsfeld also briefly visited the western Afghan city of Herat and met with local warlord Ismail Khan who has close ties with neighboring Iran.

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