Russia, US End Latest Arms Control Talks

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, April 25, 2002

Russia, US End Latest Arms Control Talks

Russian and US negotiators wrapped up their latest talks Tuesday on a deal to cut nuclear arms with "several fundamentally important problems still to be overcome," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister told reporters.

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Russian and U.S. negotiators wrapped up their latest talks Tuesday on a deal to cut nuclear arms with "several fundamentally important problems still to be overcome," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister told reporters.

The negotiations "are not proceeding very easily," but the two sides "are managing to converge their positions step by step," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Valery Loshchinin.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov and a group of Russian negotiators held closed-door meetings on Tuesday with visiting U.S. counterparts led by Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the latest in a series of arms control consultations ahead of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Russia in May.

The talks, originally scheduled to last two days, were apparently cut short, as Bolton left Moscow on Wednesday morning.

There was no official comment from either side on the early conclusion of the talks. Interfax quoted well-informed sources as saying that the decision was made on Tuesday night. Participants realized this was enough time to discuss all the issues.

President Bush has promised to cut the U.S. arsenal to 1,700 to 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads, while Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia could go even lower, to 1,500 warheads from the current 6,000 that each country is currently allowed under the 1991 START I treaty.

Bush initially favored an informal deal, but later acceded to Putin's push to formalize the cuts in a legally binding agreement. Both sides are eager to get a deal ready in time for Bush's Moscow visit, but the talks have been thorny because of Moscow's objection to the Pentagon's decision to stockpile decommissioned nuclear weapons rather than destroy them.

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