A.P./Johnson's List - 04.08.2002

Johnson's Russia List

U.S. Questions Russian Compliance

By Barry Schweid
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON –– The Bush administration plans to hold back on some disarmament projects with Russia because of concerns over Moscow's compliance with chemical and biological weapons treaties, a senior U.S. official says.

U.S. law requires the government to certify that Russia is committed to full compliance with existing treaties before new initiatives can be started or additional money provided for existing programs to reduce the treat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the official noted.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, commented shortly before Secretary of State Colin Powell left Washington on Sunday night for a round of meetings with Russian and other foreign leaders, mostly focused on the Middle East.

Powell plans to dine with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Madrid on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for an upcoming arms-control summit.

A State Department cable sent to Russia last week laying out the U.S. position on treaty compliance came a month before President Bush is to meet Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Moscow.

The United States is not accusing Russia of violating biological and chemical weapons treaties and is not ruling out certification of compliance in the future, the U.S. official said.

Moreover, the administration is seeking a congressional waiver for the certification requirement so that new and expanded programs can be pursued even in the absence of formal certification

Among the programs potentially affected are several intended to help stop the theft of Russian nuclear warheads. That effort began in 1991 and has enjoyed strong support from Congress as well as the Clinton and Bush administrations.

Existence of the State Department cable was first reported by The New York Times.

The U.S. decision was prompted by a range of actions by Russia, including its recent refusal to share a bioengineered strain of anthrax developed by its scientists and failure to provide a complete history of decades of secret work on biological and chemical weapons, the Times said.

While Western scientists have been able to visit several former Soviet facilities where such weapons were made, Russia has denied foreigners access to the four biological laboratories that have been controlled by the military, the newspaper added.

Russia maintains it is not violating the biological or chemical warfare conventions and argues that American military labs are not open either.