|
|
|
|
-----------------
|
U.S., Russia avoid conflict at start of arms talks Georgina Prodhan Emergency talks on a key arms control pact began in restrained fashion on Tuesday with Russia, the United States and NATO states all at pains not to escalate East-West confrontation, the U.S. and Russian delegations said. But, after the first session of the conference on the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, the Russian delegation said it was disappointed by a lack of substance while the U.S. delegation said a deal was possible but not certain. "There were a lot of good words said ... there was nothing confrontational about the tone, but we did not find anything substantial in the remarks of our partners from NATO countries," said Mikhail Ulyanov, deputy head of the Russian delegation.
"That's why we are a little bit disappointed," Ulyanov told Reuters by telephone. "Let's see what happens tomorrow." The conference was called at the request of Russia, mainly in frustration over limits the accord imposes on its troop and military equipment movements within its own borders. The CFE treaty was first signed in 1990 and designed to maintain a balance of military forces in Europe at the end of the Cold War, and amended in 1999 after most of Russia's former Warsaw Pact allies joined NATO. Russia wants the 1999 adapted version to be ratified as soon as possible so that it can be amended again to address some of Russia's concerns. Most signatories refuse to ratify it until Russia withdraws bases from Georgia and Moldova. The U.S. delegation head, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, said Russia had left the way open for an agreement but nothing was guaranteed. "There was nothing in what he said that precludes the possibility of working together. That doesn't mean it will happen," Fried told journalists. NO MORATORIUM YET Russia has threatened to declare a moratorium on the pact unless its concerns are addressed this week. Ulyanov said it would be up to Russian President Vladimir Putin to decide what to do next after the delegation reports back on conference. "It's called an emergency conference. We need our concerns to be addressed right now. We are dissatisfied as of the moment," Ulyanov said. Russia rejects any link between ratification of the 1999 version of the CFE treaty with Russia's promised military base withdrawals from Moldova and Georgia -- its so-called Istanbul commitments. But Ulyanov said Russia would be willing to consider as a separate issue a U.S. suggestion for an international peacekeeping force in Moldova's troubled Transdnestria region to replace the Russian troops currently stationed there. Fried said the issue of a planned U.S. missile shield in central Europe, which has angered Russia, was not linked to this week's CFE talks and had not come up in discussion. He said Russia was not the only country to have its internal military movements restricted by the treaty -- the so-called "flanking arrangements" prevent other countries such as Norway and Turkey from concentrating troops in one area.
|
||||
