• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

30 March 2004

U.S., Russian Nuclear Risk Watch Officers Begin Exchange Program

Washington, Moscow Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers host staff exchange

By Christine Johnson
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- It has been almost 17 years since the United States and the then-Soviet Union agreed to establish centers in each country that would regularly exchange information aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear war.

On March 22, more than information was exchanged, as two watch officers from the Russian Federation Nuclear Risk Reduction Center in Moscow began a visit with their American counterparts in Washington.

The exchange of officers "is part of the U.S. commitment to enhance transparency in our relationship with Russia," according to the State Department. American watch officers will be going to Moscow in April.

An agreement signed in 1987 affirmed the desire of the United States and the Soviet Union "to reduce and ultimately eliminate the risk of outbreak of nuclear war, in particular, as a result of misinterpretation, miscalculation, or accident." It also stated their belief that measures to reduce the risk of nuclear war strengthened international peace and security.

The Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers in Washington and Moscow became operational in 1988. The American center is located at the Department of State, while the Russian center is in Russia's Ministry of Defense. Equivalent centers have opened in Kiev, Ukraine; Minsk, Belarus; and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

These facilities contain high-speed systems for transmitting information and notifications required under various arms control treaties and other security agreements, such as notifications of inspections, compliance, and ballistic missile launches. They also transmit messages relating to the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty.

The Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers supplement other channels of communication between the United States and Russia and are similar to, but separate from, the so-called "hot line" between the White House and the Kremlin. Watch officers are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to receive, translate and disseminate notifications and other information.

The first exchange of watch officers is expected to improve the Centers' working relationship and the effectiveness of their operations.

Representing the Russian Federation in Washington March 22-26 were Captain First Rank Vladimir Viktorovich Akimov and Colonel Vadim Viktorovich Topol'tsev. Representing the United States in Moscow the week of April 26 will be Elizabeth Thompson and Alden Greene of the Department of State.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=March&x=200403301631051ACnosnhoJ0.2040064&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html