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Russian parliament to consider nuclear test ban in closed session |
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April 21, 2000
MOSCOW, APR 19 (AP) - Russia's upper house of parliament on Wednesday easily ratified the long-delayed START II nuclear arms reduction treaty, which would halve U.S. and Russian warhead stockpiles and clear the way for further massive cuts. The lower house, the State Duma, approved the treaty last week at the urging of President Vladimir Putin, after years of resisting ratification. The upper house, the Federation Council, generally follows the government's wishes and had been expected to approve the treaty with little delay. After an hour of debate, the house approved it Wednesday 122-15, with seven abstentions. "We call on other countries to join us in reducing weapons arsenals," Federation Council Speaker Yegor Stroyev said during the session.
Among the main issues discussed was compensation and welfare benefits for nuclear workers who will lose their jobs because of the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. START
II would halve U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to 3,000-3,500
warheads each by the end of 2007. A new treaty, START III, which is being
discussed, envisages cuts to 1,500-2,500 warheads. Former
U.S. President George Bush and then-Russian President Boris
Yeltsin signed START II in 1993, and the U.S. Senate ratified it in 1996.
The Senate still must approve a 1997 amendment that gave Russia more time to
destroy the warheads that will be fazed out under the agreement. The Duma vote last week opened the way for new talks on START III, held in Geneva this week. U.S. and Russian arms negotiators ended the first round of talks Tuesday without giving any hint of progress. The Duma had blocked approval for seven years, with the Communist majority claiming it would weaken Russia and give the United States a huge strategic advantage. The Communists lost their control of the chamber in parliamentary elections last December and the new centrist majority made approval of START II one of its top priorities. Putin has warned the United States that he will abandon START II and all nuclear arms control treaties if Washington breaks the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The United States wants the ABM treaty so it can build a small anti-missile defense system against possible attack by such rogue states as North Korea. Washington
insists the proposed missile defense system would not be
a threat to Russia, but Russian officials fear it would make their nuclear
weapons obsolete and give the United States nuclear superiority.
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