| Tuesday, November 13, 2001, updated at 11:07(GMT+8) |
Bush Signals Readiness to "Substantially Lower" US Nuclear Arsenal |
|
U.S. President Bush said Monday that he is prepared to substantially reduce American nuclear weapons levels, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to respond with similar cuts.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
U.S. President Bush said Monday that he is prepared to substantially reduce American nuclear weapons levels, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to respond with similar cuts.
During an interview with Russian journalists, Bush said that he and Putin were on the verge of forging a relationship that "will outlive our presidencies."
He also said that he would urge the 19-member NATO military alliance to build ties with Russia that go "beyond the current relationship."
Putin is expected to arrive in Washington Monday night and hold talks with Bush on security, and economic and business issues on Tuesday. He will fly to Crawford, Texas, on Wednesday to have dinner with Bush at his ranch.
It will be Putin's first visit to the United States and his fourth meeting with Bush.
Russia wants to lower the number of deployed warheads to 1,500 each. Bush has been told by the Defense Department that between 1,800 and 2,250 warheads are required to adequately protect the United States.
The United States has some 7,000 warheads and Russia has about 6,000. U.S. officials said that the two sides may not match their reductions warhead for warhead.
Bush said he still has differences with Putin over the U.S. missile defense program, which will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty unless the pact is scrapped or amended.
Washington wants an agreement that would allow it to proceed with testing of a missile defense program, while preserving the ABM treaty, which forbids testing a national missile defense.
Putin has signaled that he is ready to agree to a formula that will allow the United States to go ahead with tests related to missile defense, as long as Bush preserves the treaty.
"The ABM treaty is outdated because it will prevent the United States from researching and developing weapons systems that will really reflect the true threats of the 21st century," Bush said. "The big threat for us and for the Russians is not each other, but somebody developing weapons of mass destruction," he added.
|
|
|
|