Russia's President Vladimir Putin
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Putin Threatens to Quit the Treaty on Medium, Short-Range Missiles
It won’t be easy for Russia to remain within the Treaty on Medium/Short-Range Missiles, if the latter doesn’t extend to other states in addition to Russia and the United States, Interfax reported with reference to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
The Treaty should be of global nature, Putin said, as other states are aggressively developing such weapons. First of all, it relates to the countries that are in the immediate vicinity of Russia’s borders.
The agreement of Russia and the United States is 20 years of age already, the president specified. “It is necessary to persuade other participants of the international intercourse to assume similar obligations,” Putin said during the meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who arrived in Moscow to deliberate on stationing the U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
Russia’s president hoped the United States won’t set into motion former agreements with the nations of Eastern Europe as long as the negotiations with Russia on stationing missile defense system are underway.
Rice said the United States would attempt to overcome certain differences with Russia and mentioned two consolidating topics – fighting terrorism and nonproliferation of mass destruction weapons.
www.kommersant.com
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