| MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov dismissed accusations Wednesday that Russia had compromised
its national interests in agreeing to an arms control pact with
the United States that slashes arsenals by two-thirds.
 The
agreement, announced Monday after nearly six months of negotiations,
is to be signed next week by President Bush and Russian President
Vladimir Putin during a summit in Russia.
"Neither side, neither Russia nor the United States, surrendered
any national interests while drafting this agreement," Ivanov
said at a Moscow meeting of defense ministers from China and four
ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia. "This agreement is the
result of a compromise, like any other international agreement."
The document is "pragmatic and realistic and fully reflects
the present-day situation," he said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said that the
international community's positive reaction to the new agreement
was further testimony to its importance.
"All reactions emphasize the treaty's importance for strategic
stability," he said in a statement that highlighted the Chinese
government's positive response to the pact. In recent years, Russia
has made a considerable effort to improve its relations with China.
Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers continued Wednesday to give mixed
reactions to the agreement, which foresees cuts in each country's
arsenals to 1,700-2,200 warheads from the approximately 6,000
that each is now allowed. The treaty will include a provision
for possible further cuts, a high-ranking Russian Foreign Ministry
official said on condition of anonymity Wednesday.
Russia's liberal Yabloko party welcomed the pact as consistent
with the "new spirit of cooperation between Russia and the
United States following the tragic events of Sept. 11," Alexei
Arbatov, deputy party leader, told Interfax news agency.
Gennady Zyuganov, leader of Russia's Communist Party, blasted
it as an "unprecedented surrender," saying it eliminated
Russia's nuclear shield.
Some Russian media dubbed the accord a failure for Russia because
the document does not spell out what would be done with the warheads
after they're taken out of service. Washington wants to store
some of the decommissioned weapons, while Russia wanted all of
them destroyed.
Besides the arms treaty, Bush and Putin are to sign a political
declaration on their nations' shared strategic priorities. The
Foreign Ministry official said the document would call for expanding
cooperation in strategic missile defense, and that a consultative
commission on the issue, headed by the two countries' defense
and foreign ministers, would be created.
The issue of increasing U.S. aid to Russia in dismantling and
securing the former Soviet Union's weapons of mass destruction
will also be on the summit agenda, the official said.
The arms control deal came a day before Secretary of State Colin
Powell and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov announced a landmark
agreement on a new relationship between NATO and Russia. Despite
the NATO deal, a new poll showed most Russians still see the alliance
as a threat.
See also:
Arms
Control
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