Russian FM Concludes Visit in Washington

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, concluding his visit in Washington with an agreement for a U.S.-Russia summit, said on Saturday that he is still unconvinced by U.S. arguments for deploying a national missile defense shield.

"I will be frank with you -- the offered reasoning fails to convince us and the majority of the world nations that potential threats require the dismantling of the entire body of the agreements on disarmament," Ivanov said at a news conference on the results of his visit at the Russian Embassy.

"There is a substantial number of issues presented by the U.S. side with regard to the new architecture of strategic stability, including the deployment of the so-called global missile defense system," Ivanov said.

"Today the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty of 1972 still remains an effective tool, which promotes confidence and predictability in the area of strategic stability," Ivanov said.

"The treaty not hinders but, on the contrary, facilitates efforts to address modern threats and challenges to international security," he stressed.

However, Washington has made clear that it views the treaty as a relic of the Cold War, when the former Soviet Union and the United States were locked in an arms race.

U.S. Senator Harry Reid said on Saturday the dispute over a national missile defense in conflict with the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty was "not going to take things easier."

"We need to work through that, and we will do our best," Reid said.

The Russian foreign minister's visit had been aimed at putting U.S.-Russia relations, which have been marked by spy expulsions and harsh rhetoric on both sides, back on track after an uncertain start under U.S. President George W. Bush.

During his one-and-a-half-day visit, Ivanov met with Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Condoleezza Rice.

Ivanov told reporters that he "had a serious and frank discussion with Bush and several rounds of negotiations with Powell."

He said "the central issue of his negotiations" was the preparation for the first personal meeting between Bush and Russian President Vlademir Putin. "As you know, there is an agreement to conduct this meeting on June 16, 2001 in Slovenia."

"We are convinced that the forthcoming summit will give a positive momentum to the Russian-American dialogue on a wide range of international issues and the issues of the our bilateral relations," Ivanov told reporters.

"The president looks forward to the meeting and to discussing how the United States and Russia can build a strong, positive relationship and work together toward common goals," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a written statement Friday.

Although rapprochement of differing views is a long and complex process, Ivanov is pleased with the outcome of this visit as the stiffing of Putin by Bush is about to end with an agreement for a U.S.-Russia summit in Slovenia.

"I am returning to Moscow fully confident that Russia and the U. S. share a common understanding of the basic principle -- that new global challenges and threats can only be met through equal and mutually beneficial interaction between our countries," Ivanov said.






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