| Sunday, November 11, 2001, updated at 21:05(GMT+8) |
Putin: Russia Ready for Compromises on Missile Defense |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow Saturday that Russia is ready to make compromises with the U.S. on the issues of missile defense and strategic stability.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow Saturday that Russia is ready to make compromises with the U.S. on the issues of missile defense and strategic stability.
Russia is ready to discuss the parameters of the ABM treaty but must see the starting stance of the U.S. administration on the issue, Putin said, stressing the importance of knowing clearly what Americans want to modify in the treaty.
This is the first time that Putin stated that Russia can back off its previous firm opposition to U.S. intention to alter the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty and deploy a national missile defense (NMD) system.
"The question is, what kind of compromises they (the U.S.) are expecting from us. We have to see concrete proposals of our colleagues," Putin said at an interview with U.S. journalists in the Kremlin on Saturday evening. After specialists from both sides have put forth their proposals, "the political leadership will make its choice," he said at the interview, which has been broadcast in full text on the official web site "http://www.president.kremlin.ru/."
"I am an optimist that such options can be found," he added. He thinks that ongoing Russian-U.S. talks on the ABM treaty may offer grounds for a compromise between the two sides.
Putin said that he had discussed the matter with U.S. President George W. Bush during the APEC summit in Shanghai last month. Russia finds it correct to discuss defense systems together with the issue of strategic offensive weapons. "These are two sides of the medal," he said.
The willingness of both sides to compromise is not just the result of a good personal relationship between the presidents of the two countries, Putin said. "I knows the opinion of President Bush about the possibility of reducing strategic armaments... This is compromise in the right direction," he said.
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