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US set ABM withdrawal date shortly after Bush-Putin summit: official
AFP
December 15, 2001

The United States set December 13 as the date it would announce its withdrawal from the anti-ballistic missile treaty with Russia shortly after the last month's summit between presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, a senior US official said.

But the date was kept secret from all but a very small number of top Bush aides and even from the Russians until December 7, when the president informed Putin in a telephone call, the official said.

The official would not say exactly when Bush chose December 13 as the announcment date, but said it had been decided after the November 16 summit and before Secretary of State Colin Powell departed on a trip to Europe and Asia on December 3.

"The date of the 13th was set before (Powell) left," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The official confirmed that Powell's trip -- during which he met with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov three times and Putin once -- was never intended to be used as a platform to negotiate with Moscow over the treaty.

"That's right," the official said, when asked if Powell had intended to discuss a possible compromise. "The decision on 'Are we walking away (from the ABM treaty) or not?' was already made."

Instead, the official said, Powell's trip was part of a complex diplomatic effort to ensure that Russia -- which believes the treaty is a cornerstone of global stability -- would not react angrily to formal notification that the United States would withdraw from the pact in six months time.

The official said Washington was deeply concerned that the Russians might alter previous statements on the matter in which Moscow had said US withdrawal from the treaty would be a mistake, but one they could live with.

In addition, the United States worried Russia might not agree to a proposed sharp cut in offensive nuclear warheads, which Washington wanted to announce along with the withdrawal to allay global concerns about a post-ABM US-Russian arms race.

In an unusually detailed outline of the events leading up to the announcement, the official said that Powell had told Ivanov at a meeting December 4 in Bucharest that Bush would soon notify Moscow of his plans to withdraw from the treaty,

"By Bucharest, the secretary was able to tell Ivanov that it was coming, but did not give him the date," the official said, adding that Washington felt the exact timing should be given to Putin directly by Bush.

Powell told Ivanov generally of the decision to give the Russians time to prepare a response, the official said.

"The idea was 'We are going to tell you this so that when the times comes, you're ready," the official said. "These kinds of things we've heard you say (in the past), will these be the kind of things you will say in public at that time?"

Ivanov then reported back to Moscow that Bush's announcement was imminent and three days later, on December 7, Powell and his Russian counterpart met again, this time in Brussels.

There was "a little bit more context (in Brussels) because by then Ivanov had heard back from Moscow," the official said.

Ivanov told Powell that Russia would not change its previous stance regarding US withdrawal from ABM, but that the exact language was unclear and that there was no decision yet on the offensive weapons cuts.

Powell was still not able to give Ivanov the date of the announcement as Bush had not yet telephoned Putin with the news, the official said.

That phone call was made later in the day and by December 10, when Powell saw Ivanov again and met Putin in Moscow, he was able to tell them exactly what Bush would say December 13, the official said.

Powell was then given details of the Russian response and Putin told him that he would meet the "range" of offensive weapons cuts proposed by Bush.