Russian President Vladimir Putin is matching US President George W. Bush in pledging to make deep cuts in nuclear weapons stockpiles. But the outlook for an accord on anti-missile defenses is murky as they shift their summit talks to Bush's Texas ranch.
Both leaders affirmed Tuesday they had too many nuclear wea-pons. Both spoke of slashing their arsenals of long-range warheads to about one-third the current size. Bush prefers an informal arrangement; Putin prefers a traditional arms control accord.
But both also are signaling they are flexible, giving every indication that procedure will not block their intent to do away with thousands of nuclear weapons.
PHOTO: AP
Bush, who took the first step at a White House news conference after meeting with Putin for three hours in the Oval Office, said his proposal to set a new US ceiling of 1,700 to 2,200 long-range warheads over the next decade was "fully consistent with American security."
"The current levels of our nuclear forces do not reflect today's strategic realities," he said before leaving for his home in Crawford, Texas.
Putin matched him in a speech later at the Russian Embassy.
"Security is created not by piles of metal or weapons," Putin said. "It is created by political will of people, nation-states and their leaders."
So, the Russian president said, in light of a new and warm US-Russian relationship, Russia can afford to reduce its arsenal to one-third or less.
The US now has about 7,000 intercontinental-range nuclear warheads and Russia about 5,800.
Still, Putin said, he preferred codifying the reductions in formal agreements. "The world is far from having international relations based solely on trust, unfortunately," he said. Bush, on the other hand, said he saw no need for "endless hours" of negotiations.
But both leaders signaled their willingness to compromise.
Reaching a deal on anti-missile defenses is likely to be more difficult. Senior administration officials said they did not expect an agreement on missile defenses before the summit talks end today in Texas.
Bush wants to go ahead with a testing program that inevitably will run up against the prohibitions of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.
Putin, who considers the treaty a cornerstone of arms control, said "the position of Russia remains unchanged."
Bush hopes to persuade Putin to allow the US to proceed with research and development of a missile shield, without declaring the work a violation of the 1972 pact. In exchange, Bush promised Putin to keep Russia informed of the tests.
US officials said the proposal would give both men what they want: Bush could begin developing a missile shield and Putin could tell his public that he kept the ABM intact.
Finding common ground in other areas, the two leaders formalized a series of agreements to combat bioterrorism, bolster the Russian economy, battle money laundering that finances terrorism and strengthen Russia's ties to NATO -- the 19-member military alliance formed to counter Moscow in the Cold War.
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