Frowns surfaced in Russia's defense ministry building after President Vladimir Putin was unable Tuesday to get Bush to sign up to a bilateral long-range nuclear arms reduction agreement during their Washington talks.

As promised in advance, Bush announced a missiles cut to a range of 1,700-2,000 warheads from Washington's current arsenal of nearly 7,000 over the next 10 years. But he did so without reaching prior agreement with Putin.

Bush stressed that he was not in favor of "endless hours of arms control discussions ... I looked the man in the eye and shook his hand. But if we need to write it down on a piece of paper, I'll be glad to do it."

The announcement meant that Putin had to play catchup later in the day by saying that Russia would also make cuts from 6,000 to 2,000 warheads or less.

But he gave no timeframe for Moscow's cutbacks while stressing that discussion over "offensive and defensive" weapons would continue when the two leaders retreat to Bush's Texas ranch Wednesday.

Bush's firm unilateral approach puts in flux the status of previous disarmament agreements between Moscow and Washington -- which have been recognized under international law -- and Russia's future bargaining position in strategic affairs.

The cut lays to waste Russia's repeated efforts to cast the United States as a military aggressor which is trying to "militarize space" by developing a futuristic missile defense program that may one day have attack capabilities.

It also leaves Moscow in the unenviable position of grumbling over a US decision to eliminate a large chunk of some of the deadliest weapons on earth.

Representing the military hawks, one top Russia defense ministry general flatly called Bush's announcement "wrong."

General Valentin Kuznetsov, who heads the defense ministry's international cooperation division, argued that only bilateral agreements could guarantee full control over non-proliferation and disarmament issues.

"Russia and the United States have gained great expertise in the area of verification and control over nuclear cuts, and it would be wrong to abandon" this process, RIA Novosti quoted Kuznetsov as saying.

"The whole world should benefit from this," noted General Varfolomei Korobushin, the deputy head of Russia's Academy of Military Science.

"But the cuts must be made in a manner that does not leave the United States with an advantage" on the strategic defense front, Korobushin told ORT television.

The announcements by Bush and Putin both go below the levels of the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by Moscow and Washington in 1993.

They mark the first time in the nuclear era that a military power had volunteered such radical cuts on its own -- and leaves in doubt the validity of a host of other agreements to which Moscow has clung to for leverage in negotiating international affairs.

And most importantly, the announcement adds fuel to US threats that it could unilaterally withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty and start developing a missile shield even if no compromise agreement with Moscow on the issue is reached.

Bush and Putin signed a joint declaration Tuesday stating only that "on strategic defenses and the ABM treaty, we have agreed, in light of the changing global security environment, to continue consultations within the broad framework of the new strategic relationship."

Russia fears the defense shield in part because it threatens to render its quickly-ageing nuclear arsenal useless over the next few decades.

But some Russian lawmakers expressed little surprise that Russia appears to have given up so much ground on the strategic defense front so quickly.

"After all, our military doctrine calls for the reinforcement of ground troops" who can fight local rather than global conflicts, noted liberal Union of Rightist Force parliament faction leader Boris Nemtsov.

All rights reserved. � 2000 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Related Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only