U.S. bombs threaten arms control treaty
Russia outraged by U.S. attacks; signing of agreement delayed

MOSCOW -- After letting the START II arms control treaty languish for six years, Russia's skeptical parliament twice appeared on the verge of ratifying the U.S.-Russian agreement in recent months.

But with uncanny timing, the United States and its allies launched airstrikes just prior to both parliamentary sessions -- first hitting Iraq in December and then hammering Yugoslavia in March.Outraged by the bombings, Russian lawmakers scrapped both sessions and now appear unlikely to act until after a new parliament is elected December, according to Russian legislators and analysts.

"In practical terms, START II is finished for now and for some period into the future," said Alexander Pikayev, a military analyst with the Carnegie Center in Moscow.

"It would be too risky (for Russian politicians) to move forward now," he said of the 1993 treaty, which would limit each side to 3,000 to 3,500 strategic warheads, half the current levels.

No one is predicting a greater threat of nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States. But arms control has become even more complicated in some ways, and U.S.-Russian frictions over Yugoslavia and other issues are likely to delay breakthroughs that once seemed close at hand.

Meanwhile, Russia is growing more, not less, reliant on its nuclear arsenal. The country's conventional forces are in deep decline and NATO's expansion into eastern Europe has left Moscow feeling vulnerable.

The relationship is also strained over American accusations that Russia has been leaking nuclear technology to Iran, a charge Moscow denies. In addition, Washington wants to revise the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty to build a limited missile defense, a move Russia strongly opposes.

Russia has further muddied the waters by giving off mixed signals.

President Boris Yeltsin stresses that Russia will not get involved militarily in the Yugoslav conflict, and doesn't want it undermining broader U.S.-Russian relations.

Yet the president caused a stir April 9 when he and the speaker of parliament, Gennady Seleznyov, discussed the re-targeting of ballistic missiles at NATO countries, according to Seleznyov. Yeltsin's office denied initial reports that the missiles had been re-targeted, but didn't deny that such a conversation took place.

And Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev said the country's nuclear forces were on the "highest level" of combat readiness because of the NATO airstrikes.