Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that Russia was considering withdrawing from a major cold war arms treaty banning intermediate nuclear missiles unless it was expanded to include other states.
President Putin said that Moscow was planning to dump the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) - signed in a landmark deal between the US and Soviet Union in 1987 - unless countries such as China were included in its provisions.
His comments came during talks in Moscow yesterday involving the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and defense secretary, Robert Gates, and Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov.
Mr Putin repeated his opposition to US plans to site elements of a missile defense shield in central Europe. The project threatened the US and Russia's strategic relationship, he said. "We need other international participants to assume the same obligations which have been assumed by the Russian Federation and the US," he said. "If we are unable to attain such a goal ... it will be difficult for us to keep within the framework of the treaty in a situation where other countries do develop such weapons systems, and among those are countries in our near vicinity."
He appeared to refer to the INF treaty - between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan - under which both sides agreed to scrap their arsenals of intermediate range nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.
Russian defense experts said yesterday that the Kremlin was unhappy with the treaty because of concerns over the growing mid-range nuclear arsenals of countries such as China, Pakistan and India. Iran is also developing a medium-range missile program. "We are speaking about the plans of a number of neighboring countries developing short- and mid-range missile systems. While our two countries are bound by the provisions of the INF treaty there will be a certain imbalance in the region," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Guardian.
The treaty only applies to the US, Russia and the ex-Soviet republics of Ukraine and Belarus. It was widely seen as disadvantageous for the USSR as it did not include the US's naval nuclear cruise missiles or the nuclear arsenals of Britain or France.
"Russia's nuclear arsenal is still mainly a legacy of the Soviet Union. Its platforms are aging. Russia feels more and more vulnerable not only from the nuclear forces of the US but from other threats as well," said Yevgeny Miasnikov, a senior research scientist at the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environment Studies in Moscow. "This move fits into Russia's policy towards arms treaties these days."
Since denouncing the US in Munich this year, Mr Putin has withdrawn from the conventional armed forces in Europe treaty and resumed long-range patrols by Russia's strategic nuclear bombers.
Yesterday Mr Putin kept his visitors waiting for 30 minutes. He then launched into a monologue warning Washington not to rush ahead with its plans to locate elements of its missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. "We hope that in the process of such complex and multifaceted talks you will not be forcing forward your relations with the eastern European countries," he said.
After the talks Mr Gates said the US had some "new ideas" to assuage Russia's fears over the shield, including allowing Russian inspectors to visit the sites. "I would like to emphasize that the missile defense shield being proposed in central Europe is not directed at Russia," he soothed. But Mr Lavrov said Russia was unconvinced that the system was needed to counter a possible nuclear attack by rogue states such as Iran or North Korea.
Mr Serdyukov, Russia's defense minister, was even blunter. The defense shield was "anti-Russian", he said. Kremlin sources confirmed that if the US carried on regardless of Russia's objections Moscow would take military counter-measures.
Mr Putin has proposed using a Russian-operated early warning radar in Azerbaijan in exchange for Washington abandoning the Polish and Czech sites. The radar might complement the US's plans but wouldn't be much good at shooting down enemy missiles, Mr Gates noted yesterday.
Ms Rice and Mr Gates also touched on disagreements over Iran. Mr Putin, who does not support western calls for a new round of UN sanctions on Iran, will meet the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran next week.
Back story
The intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) was one of the most important arms-reduction agreements of the cold war era. The US and USSR agreed to scrap all intermediate and conventional ground-launched missiles, both ballistic and cruise. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president Ronald Reagan signed the deal in 1987. By 1991 the USSR had scrapped 1,846 missiles and the US 846. Russia now believes the arsenals of neighboring countries mean the treaty should be rethought.
President Putin said that Moscow was planning to dump the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) - signed in a landmark deal between the US and Soviet Union in 1987 - unless countries such as China were included in its provisions.
His comments came during talks in Moscow yesterday involving the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and defense secretary, Robert Gates, and Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov.
Mr Putin repeated his opposition to US plans to site elements of a missile defense shield in central Europe. The project threatened the US and Russia's strategic relationship, he said. "We need other international participants to assume the same obligations which have been assumed by the Russian Federation and the US," he said. "If we are unable to attain such a goal ... it will be difficult for us to keep within the framework of the treaty in a situation where other countries do develop such weapons systems, and among those are countries in our near vicinity."
He appeared to refer to the INF treaty - between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan - under which both sides agreed to scrap their arsenals of intermediate range nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles.
Russian defense experts said yesterday that the Kremlin was unhappy with the treaty because of concerns over the growing mid-range nuclear arsenals of countries such as China, Pakistan and India. Iran is also developing a medium-range missile program. "We are speaking about the plans of a number of neighboring countries developing short- and mid-range missile systems. While our two countries are bound by the provisions of the INF treaty there will be a certain imbalance in the region," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Guardian.
The treaty only applies to the US, Russia and the ex-Soviet republics of Ukraine and Belarus. It was widely seen as disadvantageous for the USSR as it did not include the US's naval nuclear cruise missiles or the nuclear arsenals of Britain or France.
"Russia's nuclear arsenal is still mainly a legacy of the Soviet Union. Its platforms are aging. Russia feels more and more vulnerable not only from the nuclear forces of the US but from other threats as well," said Yevgeny Miasnikov, a senior research scientist at the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environment Studies in Moscow. "This move fits into Russia's policy towards arms treaties these days."
Since denouncing the US in Munich this year, Mr Putin has withdrawn from the conventional armed forces in Europe treaty and resumed long-range patrols by Russia's strategic nuclear bombers.
Yesterday Mr Putin kept his visitors waiting for 30 minutes. He then launched into a monologue warning Washington not to rush ahead with its plans to locate elements of its missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. "We hope that in the process of such complex and multifaceted talks you will not be forcing forward your relations with the eastern European countries," he said.
After the talks Mr Gates said the US had some "new ideas" to assuage Russia's fears over the shield, including allowing Russian inspectors to visit the sites. "I would like to emphasize that the missile defense shield being proposed in central Europe is not directed at Russia," he soothed. But Mr Lavrov said Russia was unconvinced that the system was needed to counter a possible nuclear attack by rogue states such as Iran or North Korea.
Mr Serdyukov, Russia's defense minister, was even blunter. The defense shield was "anti-Russian", he said. Kremlin sources confirmed that if the US carried on regardless of Russia's objections Moscow would take military counter-measures.
Mr Putin has proposed using a Russian-operated early warning radar in Azerbaijan in exchange for Washington abandoning the Polish and Czech sites. The radar might complement the US's plans but wouldn't be much good at shooting down enemy missiles, Mr Gates noted yesterday.
Ms Rice and Mr Gates also touched on disagreements over Iran. Mr Putin, who does not support western calls for a new round of UN sanctions on Iran, will meet the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran next week.
Back story
The intermediate range nuclear forces treaty (INF) was one of the most important arms-reduction agreements of the cold war era. The US and USSR agreed to scrap all intermediate and conventional ground-launched missiles, both ballistic and cruise. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US president Ronald Reagan signed the deal in 1987. By 1991 the USSR had scrapped 1,846 missiles and the US 846. Russia now believes the arsenals of neighboring countries mean the treaty should be rethought.
