U.S.-Russia Sign Agreement To End Medium-Range Missile Inspections

At the signing ceremony on December 14, 2000, in Geneva, at the
Twenty-sixth Session of the Special Verification Commission (SVC),
representatives of the United States of America, the Republic of
Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and
Ukraine signed an amendment to the INF Treaty's Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA).

Although the INF Treaty is of unlimited duration, the treaty's
extensive inspection regime, including continuous monitoring at
missile assembly plants at Magna, Utah, USA and Votkinsk, Udmurtia,
Russia, will be concluded at midnight May 31, 2001. The newly-signed
amendment provides principles and procedures for the completion of INF
inspections by means of continuous monitoring.

The SVC is the forum for discussing implementation issues and agreeing
upon measures to enhance the viability and effectiveness of the Treaty
Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics on the Elimination of their Intermediate-range and
Shorter-range Missiles, which entered into force in June 1988.