Скачать или смотреть Weldon comments on US-Russia nuclear weapons control.

(16 Jan 2002)

1. Weldon arrives for press conference
2. Various of press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Curt Weldon, Senior member of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee
"It's not going to mean that we are not going to have differences. Friends disagree frequently. It's not going to mean that there aren't going to be bumps along the road. But it means it's time to fundamentally change the nature of our relationship."
4. Cutaways
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Curt Weldon, Senior member of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee
"And what President Bush is saying that we are friends of Russia. It is not about whether or not we are going to go to war with Russia. That's not even on the table, it's a relic of the past, it's Cold War mentallity. It's time to move Russia into the future as an equal partner, as our European friends, where in fact we don't have to have lengthy discussions where we argue over every word and phrase to accomplish what we all acknowldge is the case and what is a new era in our relationship."
6. Cutaway
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Curt Weldon, Senior member of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee
"So the ABM issue is not an anti-Russia issue. And as I said to your defence ministry officials when I accompanied Secretary Cohen to discussions a year ago in July - it's time for Russia and America to be partners in defending our people."
8. Weldon leaves press conference

STORYLINE:

A visiting US congressman on Wednesday said that differences over nuclear arms cuts and other issues wouldn't mar newly warm ties between Russia and the United States.

Speaking in Moscow, Curt Weldon said: "I don't read a changing in a negative way of our relationship at all".

The senior member of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee added that "friends disagree frequently".

Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania, played down a recent souring of ties, after months of unusually warm relations thanks to President Vladimir Putin's support for the US war on terror.

Last week, President George W. Bush's administration revived criticism of the Russian war in breakaway Chechnya after months of silence, and voiced concern about media freedom in Russia after the treason conviction of a journalist and the shutdown of the country's largest independent television station.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has bristled at the US criticism, calling it unsubstantiated.

Weldon, who is on his 28th visit to Russia, said the disagreements didn't spell a new period of tension.

"Sometimes we jump to conclusions before the final results of our negotiations and discussions are completed," he said.

Weldon spoke as a Russian military delegation was holding talks in Washington with top Pentagon officials on cooperating against terror threats, nuclear arms cuts and creating a new military relationship.

Russia last week criticised the Pentagon plan to trim the US nuclear arsenal by putting weapons in reserve rather than destroying them and insisted that the cuts that Bush has promised must be "irreversible".

Weldon warned against overplaying differences in arms control talks and voiced confidence that a compromise would be reached.

The US official, who has initiated a series of bipartisan initiatives to bolster US-Russian ties, suggested the two countries should cooperate in missile defence.


The Russian parliament on Wednesday passed a non-binding resolution saying the US withdrawal from the treaty was harmful for global stability and urging Putin to consult with lawmakers on the issue.

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