DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-RUSSIA ARMS (L)
NUMBER=2-261810
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Administration officials say President Clinton 
intends to pursue further nuclear arms reductions and 
an accommodation with Moscow on missile defenses -- 
this, despite opposition from a powerful Republican 
Senate committee chairman.  V-O-A's David Gollust 
reports from the White House.

TEXT:  The White House is rejecting the suggestion by 
Senator Jesse Helms that President Clinton wants an 
arms deal just to enhance his political legacy.  And 
it says talks with Moscow will go forward despite the 
Senator's warning that any agreement submitted during 
the remainder of Mr. Clinton's term will be "dead on 
arrival" in his Foreign Relations Committee.

The Helms statement came Tuesday as top administration 
officials were holding talks with Russian Foreign 
Minister Igor Ivanov on possible new strategic arms 
cuts, and proposed amendments to the 1972 Anti-
Ballistic Missile treaty that would allow the United 
States to build a missile defense system.  White House 
spokesman Joe Lockhart says the administration's sole 
purpose in the talks is to enhance U-S national 
security:

            /// Lockhart Act ///

      Presidents who come and assume the 
      responsibilities of this office understand that 
      they have an absolute obligation to pursue the 
      national security interests of this country.  
      These discussions are for achieving goals that 
      relate to our national security.  And to ascribe 
      political motivations here is just wrong.

            /// End Act ///

Spokesman Lockhart said he hoped the remarks of 
Senator Helms -- a persistent critic of administration 
arms control efforts -- would not undercut 
negotiations Moscow and that he does not expect them 
to.

The State Department confirmed Friday it has presented 
the Russian government with a draft of proposed A-B-M 
treaty amendments, even though Moscow has insisted it 
is not interested in any changes.

President Clinton is expected to make a decision by 
mid-summer on whether to proceed with deployment of 
what U-S officials say would be a limited defense 
system designed to intercept a relative handful of 
missiles fired by North Korea or another of the so-
called "rogue" states.

However, Russia has described the A-B-M treaty as a 
foundation of the arms-control process and argues that 
even the limited defense system sought by the 
(Clinton) administration would undermine nuclear 
deterrence.

Arms control analysts have suggested, none-the-less, 
that Moscow might ease its A-B-M treaty stance as part 
of a package providing for deeper-than-anticipated 
strategic arms cuts by both sides under a proposed 
START-Three treaty.  The issue is expected to dominate 
the U-S-Russian summit meeting in Moscow the first 
week in June.

            /// Rest Opt ///

The New York Times Friday published excerpts of what 
it said was the U-S document submitted to Moscow on 
anti-missile treaty changes.

It insists that the envisaged U-S defense system would 
not weaken Russia's strategic deterrence potential and 
that Moscow -- even under proposed START-Three weapons 
levels -- would be able to "easily penetrate" the 
limited missile shield.   (Signed)

NEB/DAG/JP




28-Apr-2000 15:05 PM EDT (28-Apr-2000 1905 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.