News

26 September 1997

TEXT: STATE DEPARTMENT ON SIGNING OF TWO ARMS CONTROL ACCORDS

(ABM and START II Treaties are the focus) (920)



New York -- The United States and Russia signed a set of arms control
agreements September 26 designed to enhance the legislative prospects
for Russian ratification of the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
(START) and to "prompt commencement of START III negotiations on
further reductions after START II enters into force."


A second set of arms control agreements was signed at the same time by
these two parties as well as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine in an
effort to preserve the viability of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile
Treaty.


The START II Protocol extending the implementation period for START II
until December 2007, the U.S.-Russian Joint Agreed Statement
permitting the downloading of Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic
missiles any time before December 2007, the letters which legally
codify the March 1997 Helsinki Summit commitment to deactivate U.S.
and Russian strategic nuclear delivery vehicles by December 2003, and
the four agreements relating to the 1972 ABM Treaty must all be
ratified or approved by the various signatories "in accordance with
the constitutional procedures of each state."


Following is the State Department text as issued by the spokesman's
office:


(begin text)



Representatives of the United States, the Russian Federation, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, and Ukraine signed two sets of significant strategic arms
control agreements today in New York. With this action we have
advanced commitments made at the Clinton-Yeltsin Summit in Helsinki
last March aimed at further reducing the nuclear danger and
strengthening strategic stability and nuclear security. The first set
of agreements, signed by the United States and the Russian Federation,
will enhance strategic stability by boosting the prospects for Russian
ratification of START II and prompt commencement of START III
negotiations on further reductions after START II enters into force.
The second set of agreements, signed by the United States, the Russian
Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, preserve the viability
of the ABM Treaty as a foundation for further strategic arms
reductions.


As agreed at Helsinki, to facilitate Russia's ratification of the
START II Treaty, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and
Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov today signed a Protocol to
the Treaty extending the time period for implementation of START II
until December 31, 2007, when all Treaty-mandated reductions are to be
completed. This Protocol is intended to ease Russia's concerns over
the cost of dismantling nuclear weapons systems.


The Secretary and the Foreign Minister also signed and exchanged
letters legally codifying the Helsinki Summit commitment to deactivate
by December 31, 2003, the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear delivery
vehicles that will be eliminated under START II, thereby ensuring that
the U.S. and Russia realize START II's security benefits as soon as
possible.


The Joint Agreed Statement issued today records the agreement between
the United States and the Russian Federation that henceforth Minuteman
III ICBM downloading under START II can be carried out at any time
before December 31, 2007. This ensures that deMIRVing under START II
will take place in a stable and equivalent manner.


The second set of agreements signed today in New York relate to the
1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and Theater Ballistic Missile
Defenses (TMD). These agreements will ensure the viability of the ABM
Treaty, a cornerstone of strategic stability for over 25, by
clarifying the line between strategic and theater ballistic missile
defenses and by settling the ABM Treaty succession issue following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union.


Specifically, Secretary Albright and Foreign Ministers Primakov,
Antonovich, Tokayev, and Udovenko, of the Russian Federation, Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Ukraine, respectively, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) providing for succession to the ABM Treaty by
those four states of the former Soviet Union.


In addition, Dr. Stanley Riveles, the U.S. Commissioner to the
Standing Consultative Commission (SCC); Gen. Viktor Koltunov (ret.),
the Russian SCC Commissioner; Ambassador Stanislau Agurtsou of
Belarus; Dr. Kaiyrtay Zhanbatyrov, Kazakhstan Deputy SCC Commissioner;
and Ukrainian representative Mr. Olexiy Rybak signed: two Agreed
Statements relating to the ABM Treaty, dealing with lower-and
higher-velocity TMD systems, respectively; an associated Agreement on
Confidence-Building Measures; and new SCC regulations that will govern
multilateral operation of the Commission. They also initialed a Joint
Statement that provides for an annual exchange of information on the
status of TMD plans and programs. Together, these documents clarify
the demarcation between anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems, which
are limited by the Treaty, and TMD systems, which are not limited by
the Treaty.


The START II Protocol, together with the Joint Agreed Statement, the
letters on early deactivation, and four ABM agreements are subject to
ratification or approval by the signatory states in accordance with
the constitutional procedures of each state.


With today's signing of the START II Protocol, the letters on early
deactivation, and the agreements on ABM succession and demarcation, we
expect that the path will now be clear for the Russian legislative
approval of the START II Treaty. This will allow us all to benefit
from the stabilizing reductions envisioned in START II, and open the
door to negotiating further reductions through a START III agreement,
as embodied in the Clinton-Yeltsin Helsinki commitment. The United
States shares the hope and expectation of the Russian Federation that
the Russian legislature will approve ratification of START II so that
a START III agreement can then be completed expeditiously.


(end text)