PUTIN, YAKOVLEV DIFFER OVER APPROACH TO ABM? One day after
Commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces General Vladimir
Yakovlev proposed an "ABM index" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14
November 2000), which he suggested would accommodate U.S.
plans to deploy a limited national missile defense system. a
senior Russian Foreign Ministry official denied that Moscow
is backing down from its opposition to such a system. Yurii
Kapralov told reporters on 14 November that there is "no
softening" on Moscow's position on ABM. Yakovlev is entitled
to his own view, Kapralov added, but only Putin can rule on
policy matters. Speaking on 14 November in Ulan Bator, which
he visited before proceeding to the APEC summit in Brunei,
Putin noted that his proposal to consider even more radical
cuts than those provided for under START-III was made
"deliberately" to ensure that arms control remains on the
agenda during the period of uncertainty over who will replace
Clinton in the White House. JC
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