DEFENSE MINISTER BACKS PUTIN OVER ABM... Speaking in Tver on
15 November, Igor Sergeev said that President Vladimir
Putin's proposal that Russia and the U.S. reduce their
nuclear arsenals to below 1,500 warheads each can be put into
practice only if the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty is
preserved, Interfax reported. Putin, in a 13 November
statement, had proposed such cuts on condition that the ABM
treaty is "preserved and strengthened" (see "RFE/RL
Newsline," 14 November 2000). JC
...AS YAKOVLEV SAYS TREATY UNLIKELY TO SURVIVE. Commander of
the Strategic Rocket Forces Vladimir Yakovlev told
journalists in Moscow on 15 November he believes that
regardless of who heads the next U.S. administration, the ABM
treaty is unlikely to survive. He also commented that U.S.
Senators are unlikely to approve the additions to START II
that the State Duma made when it ratified that treaty earlier
this year. Yakovlev recently proposed an "ABM index" that
would allow a country to increase one component of its
arsenal by reducing another (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14
November 2000). Foreign Ministry officials were quick to
point that this was Yakovlev's personal point of view and
that President Putin decided policy matters. JC
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