US President George W. Bush announced Thursday that the US is pulling out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, despite Russia's objections, in order to deploy a missile defense system.
"I have concluded the ABM treaty hinders our government's ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue state missile attacks," Bush announced in the White House Rose Garden.
Despite opposition from Russia, China and key US allies to abandoning the cornerstone of Cold War arms control efforts, Bush said he had given Moscow the six months' formal notice the accord requires for withdrawal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the move was expected but Moscow "nevertheless considers it to be a mistake," even as he emphasized that Bush's decision is "not a threat to the security of the Russian Federation."
That relatively mild rebuke came as senior Russian lawmakers speculated gloomily about nuclear showdowns with China, India and Pakistan.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
"China is willing to work with other countries to make efforts to safeguard world peace and stability," Jiang, quoted by state media yesterday, said in Myanmar, where he was on a state visit.
Neither Jiang nor the foreign ministry spelled out what China had in mind.
But Chinese analysts said it appeared Beijing, which fears scrapping the treaty will spark a new arms race, wanted the key nuclear powers -- the US, Russia, China and possibly France and Britain -- to meet on the issue.
Bush insisted the decision in no way would undermine the "new, much more hopeful and constructive relationship" that he and Putin have been crafting since Bush took office Jan. 20, nor would it affect Russian security.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush had notified Putin of the move by telephone last Friday and had consulted Jiang on Thursday.
Fleischer told reporters that Bush had also discussed the issue with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Japan earlier this week.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, at Bush's side for the announcement, later said he would meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov in Brussels next week to work on "a framework that can replace the treaty."
The ABM treaty was premised on the idea that denying both signatories missile defenses would curb the race to develop ever more deadly offensive weapons.
RSS