Russian backs pact, says arms' days numbered

MOSCOW (AP) -- The chief of Russia's missile force Tuesday backed ratification of the START II arms reduction treaty with the United States, saying Russia's nuclear weapons will soon reach the end of their service life anyway.

"Just like human life, the lifetime of any piece of equipment is limited," Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander-in-chief of Russia's Strategic Missile Force, told reporters. "We can only have these weapons on combat duty for 25-27 years."Many of the weapons already have been in service for 21 years, he said. By 2007, the treaty's deadline for dismantling the weapons, most of Russia's heavy missiles will have to be decommissioned anyway.

"We aren't taking a single missile off combat duty before its service life expires," Yakovlev said.

START II, signed in 1993, would cut Russian and U.S nuclear arsenals in half to around 3,500 warheads each.

The U.S. Senate ratified it in 1996, but the Communist-led opposition in Russia's Parliament has blocked ratification, claiming that dismantling strategic weapons would harm Russia's security and be too expensive.

Yakovlev said the government had persuaded lawmakers to drop their objections. "All differences are now settled," he claimed.

But parliament's lower house, the State Duma, continues to delay. Many lawmakers want to pass a bill on the future of the nuclear weapons program in general before acting on START II.