DATE=4/10/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / START-TWO (L ONLY)(CQ)
NUMBER=2-261142
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO:  Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, 
may ratify the long-delayed START-two arms control 
treaty this month.  V-O-A Moscow Correspondent Peter 
Heinlein reports Acting President Vladimir Putin 
supports the ratification push. 

TEXT:  Mr. Putin invited leaders of parliamentary 
factions to a meeting of Russia's security council 
Monday, in the hope of finding a way to get the START-
Two treaty approved.

Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov told reporters the 1993 
accord could come up for a vote before the end of 
April.  Deputy Speaker Vladimir Lukin said debate 
could begin as early as Friday.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov confirmed that START-Two 
ratification is at the top of the Kremlin's agenda.

  ///  IVANOV ACT ONE - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER  ///

He says Russia is interested in considerably 
decreasing the levels of nuclear weapons.  START-Two 
would cut U-S and Russian nuclear arsenals by one-
half, to between three-thousand and 35-hundred 
warheads each. 

The U-S Senate ratified the treaty in 1996.  The Duma, 
however, has repeatedly put off its vote. 

But while sending hopeful signals on START-Two, 
Foreign Minister Ivanov warned the United States 
against pushing ahead with attempts to amend the 1972 
Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.  He said tampering with 
A-B-M risks pushing East-West tensions back up to Cold 
War levels.

  ///  IVANOV ACT TWO - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER  ///

He says the collapse of the A-B-M treaty could bring 
the world to a new confrontation.   Mr. Ivanov 
suggested such a confrontation would complicate 
cooperation on economic and trade issues where the 
United States and Russia have common interests.

///  OPT  /// Nevertheless, defense analyst Dmitry 
Trenin of the Moscow Carnegie Center says the new push 
to ratify START-Two appears to signal a softening of 
the Kremlin's hard line stance on A-B-M.

            ///  OPT  //  TRENIN ACT  ///

      START-Two ratification is part of a larger 
      effort to reach a realistic compromise over the 
      ABM treaty.  I think that the Russian 
      authorities have realized that temporizing over 
      START-Two would only make their cause harder 
      over the A-B-M treaty.

            ///  END ACT  //  END OPT  ///

The apparent shift on arms control comes as Mr. Putin 
prepares for a busy month of foreign contacts.  The 
ITAR-Tass news agency reports Mr. Putin will meet 
Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Tony 
Blair during a visit to London next week. 

Before flying to London, Mr. Putin will stop in 
Belarus, making Minsk his first foreign visit since 
taking over the Kremlin's top job last New Year's Eve. 

Before the month is over, the Russian leader also will 
visit Ukraine, and will host Japanese Prime Minister 
Yoshiro Mori for an informal meeting in St. 
Petersburg, Mr. Putin's hometown.  It will be Mr. 
Mori's first foreign visit since he replaced Keizo 
Obuchi, who is in a coma after suffering a stroke.  
(Signed)

NEB/PFH/JWH/KL/WTW



10-Apr-2000 16:28 PM EDT (10-Apr-2000 2028 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.