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MOSCOW (AFP) - United States President Bill Clinton's position on the deployment of a national missile defense (NMD) shield "reinforces strategic stability and security in the entire world," Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday, cited by Interfax. But Putin said: "This does not mean that Moscow and Washington have at the present time a totally identical approach on matters relating to NMD." "Russia is ready to keep working together with the U.S. and all governments concerned with international security," the Russian president said in a statement. Clinton said Friday that although some initial tests of parts of the system were "promising," much more information was needed before he could responsibly make a decision to commit the billions of dollars needed to deploy the NMD system, leaving the decision to his successor. "Though the technology for national missile defense is promising, the system as a whole is not yet proven," the U.S. president said in a speech to students at Georgetown University in Washington. "Therefore, I have decided not to authorize deployment of a national missile defense at this time," said Clinton. Moscow has campaigned for months against the deployment of such a missile defense shield, warning that such a move could spark a new arms race and saying it would violate the cornerstone 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which bans the deployment of nationwide nuclear defense systems. |
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