Russia Claims No Countermoves Against US ABM Pullout

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 18, 2001

Russia Claims No Countermoves Against US ABM Pullout

Russia plans no major countermoves against the United States' unilateral walkout from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday.

Russia plans no major countermoves against the United States' unilateral walkout from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday.

While inspecting the headquarters of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops in the town of Vlasikha in the Moscow Region, Ivanov said, "We have a plan for developing the strategic missile forces drawn up long before the U.S. decision."

The U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 ABM treaty does not affect Russia's military security, although it would create a certain vacuum from the standpoint of strategic stability, Itar-Tass news agency cited Ivanov as saying.

"We hope that this vacuum will be filled to a certain extent with a Russian-U.S. treaty aimed at a radical reduction in strategic offensive arms under strict international control," he said.

Meanwhile, he announced that structural changes will soon be made in Russia's strategic rocket forces to enhance the country's nuclear missile shield.

Such a decision was made a year and a half ago by the Security Council, Russia's top national security agency, he said.

"The plans are implemented, and I regularly study the situation in the strategic rocket forces and I am sure that these forces will be a reliable shield for Russia for a long time," the minister stated.

Ivanov emphasized that the strategic rocket forces have been one of the main components of Russia's strategic nuclear forces for 42 years, serving as an effective guarantee of the national interests.

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