Successor states to Soviet Union sign series of arms control pacts (10/05/97)

Successor states to Soviet Union sign series of arms control pacts

by Khristina Lew

NEW YORK - Ukraine, Russia, Kazakstan, Belarus and the United States signed a series of arms control agreements here at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel on September 26 intended to remove further obstacles to Russian ratification of the START II Treaty.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Hennadii Udovenko, Yevgenii Primakov, Kassymghomait Tokaev and Ivan Antonovich, the foreign affairs ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus, respectively, signed agreements related to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty that resolve succession to the treaty and clarify the line between strategic (ABM) and theater ballistic missile defenses (TMD) systems.

The ABM Treaty was a bilateral agreement signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on May 26, 1972. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the only operationally deployed ABM system was in Moscow, while a number of its early warning radars and an ABM test range were located outside of the Russian Federation.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Succession signed by the five countries establishes that the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakstan and Belarus are parties to the ABM Treaty, and that the four former Soviet republics assume the rights and obligations of the USSR under the treaty.

The memorandum permits only a single ABM deployment area and 15 ABM launchers at ABM test ranges among the four former Soviet republics. Russia will continue to operate existing early warning radars, as well as the ABM test range located within the other states with the permission of their governments.

In addition, representatives of the five countries signed documents clarifying the demarcation between anti-ballistic missile and theater ballistic missile defense systems: two Agreed Statements Relating to the ABM Treaty that deal with lower- and higher-velocity TMD systems, which are not limited by the ABM Treaty; and an associated Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures.

They also signed an agreement on new regulations that will govern multilateral operations of the Standing Consultative Commission to which all five countries belong, and initialed a Joint Statement that provides for an annual exchange of information on the status of TMD plans and programs.

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Primakov hailed the signing of the agreements as a major success that "will determine the course of arms control for many years to come."

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Udovenko said Ukraine "considers its participation in the ABM Treaty as one of the important components of its foreign policy," emphasizing that "transparency and partnership will become determinants of our further cooperation aimed at strengthening international security and preserving strategic stability in the world."

He pointed out, however, that the documents signed on September 26 do not remove all problems related to the demarcation between ABM and TMD systems, and that "intensive work" still remains to be done.

The agreements will enter into force when the parliaments of all five signatory states ratify them.

In a separate ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Secretary Albright and Foreign Affairs Minister Primakov signed a protocol to the START II Treaty that extends by five years, until the end of 2007, the date by which Russia must dismantle its launching systems. The protocol also extends the date by which Russia must disable its systems, from 2001 to 2004.

The START II Treaty was signed by the United States and Russia on January 3, 1993. The extension of deadlines for dismantling and disabling Russian launching systems is seen as a means to overcome the Russian Parliament's reluctance to ratify START II. The U.S. Senate ratified START II on January 26, 1996.

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