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Powell, Ivanov Claim New Progress in Strategic Arms talks
US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov said on Wednesday they believed progress had been made recently in thorny arms control talks that include discussions of Washington's controversial plans for a national missile shield.
"I think we are moving in the right direction," Powell told reporters after he saw Ivanov at the State Department for a meeting that focused largely on possible repsonses to last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
"We have not solved the problem yet of how we can find a new strategic framework to go forward, but I think ... we can begin to see a way ahead that will increase stability and lead us in the direction of a new strategic framework," Powell said.
Ivanov agreed, although he stressed that many issues remained unresolved.
"On some of the issues, our positions are becoming closer," he said. "On the other issues, we are continuing active consultations."
The two men did not elaborate.
US President George W. Bush has declared the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which prohibits national missile defense systems, a Cold War relic and has vowed to develop a missile shield even if it means unilaterally withdrawing from the pact.
Bush has said he wants to develop a new "strategic framework" with the Russians and talks between the two sides on possible radical amendments or replacements to the treaty have intensified in recent months ahead of several meetings planned between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in October and November.
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