Missile talks accelerate as US official says Russia seeking compromise
( 2001-09-06 10:47 ) (7 )

Talks between the United States and Russia over controversial US plans for a national missile shield will accelerate this month ahead of a planned summit between Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, a senior US official said Wednesday.

The high-level talks -- beginning next week in Moscow and to be followed the next week in a European capital and then a meeting in Washington between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov -- come as the official said he believed Russia would seek a compromise on the issue.

"I think the Russians accept the inevitability of missile defense and ... despite their view that the ABM treaty is not obsolete -- we differ on that -- I think they are looking for some kind of compromise," the official said.

The official, speaking to reporters at the State Department on condition of anonymity, said the acceleration in discussions with the Russians on proposed changes to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty was aimed at making "significant" progress on possible compromises before the expected Bush-Putin meeting in November.

"We've made clear that's not a deadline, but there is a reasonable chance that we can make some significant progress at least in sketching out the outlines of a new framework by then," the official said.

The ABM treaty prohibits the kind of missile defense system that Bush is proposing and Washington has said it will unilaterally withdraw from the pact should that be necessary to continue its development.

The US official said it appeared as though Russia was willing to accept a "limited" version of the plan to protect against missile threats from so-called "rogue states" such as Iran, Iraq and North Korea.

"Whether we will find common ground remains to be seen but I think they are prepared to accommodate limited defense against rogue states," the official said.

"They are looking for more clarity as to exactly how limited the defense will be," he added. "They are still not ready to come on board but hopefully over the next couple of months, the talks will get at least to the beginnings of a compromise."

Discussions with Moscow so far, including repeated talks between Powell and Ivanov, as well as visits to Russia this summer by US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have all set the stage for the upcoming talks.

The next round is to be held in Moscow on September 10-11 between Douglas Feith, the US under secretary of defense for policy, and his Russian counterpart, the official said.

A week later, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control John Bolton will meet in an as-yet undetermined European venue with his Russian counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov, the official said.

The Bolton-Mamedov talks will precede the Powell-Ivanov meeting expected in either Washington or New York in the leadup to the annuanal United Nations General Assembly.

No exact date in November for Putin's visit to the United States has been set.