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CNN Live Today

U.S., Russia Agree to Reduce Nuclear Stockpile

Aired May 24, 2002 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with a historic day today for the United States and Russia. The two biggest players in the nuclear arms race during the Cold War have agreed to reduce thousands of nuclear warheads from their arsenals.

CNN senior White House correspondent John King joins us from Moscow with the details on that.

Hi there, John.

KING: Hello to you, Fredricka.

The two leaders having dinner tonight at President Putin's home, outside of Moscow, that a sign, United States officials say, of the personal bond president Bush and President Putin have been developing over the past year-and-a-half or so.

They say it is that personal bond that has, in their view, led them to such productive dealings.

Now, that nuclear agreement you talked about removes by two- thirds the active nuclear arsenals of each country. Those warheads will go into storage. They do not have to be destroyed. Some will be destroyed, but they do not have to be destroyed. So the actual arsenals will not be reduced by two-thirds, but the active arsenals, warheads on missiles, on submarines, loaded up for use, will be reduced by about two-thirds over the next decade.

Now, that was the one area of agreement today. There was also though one area of disagreement, as these two leaders tried to celebrate a growing friendship. Mr. Bush, in private, we are told, quite bluntly raised with President Putin United States' concerns that Russia is supplying nuclear technology and other sophisticated military technology to Iran that could be used for weapons purposes.

We are told the Russian leader disagreed with that, but President Bush says especially as the United States leads the war on terrorism, he wants Russian cooperation in fighting weapons proliferation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We spoke very frankly and honestly about the need to make sure that a nontransparent government, run by radical clerics, doesn't get their hands on weapons of mass destruction. It could be harmful to us and harmful to Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: We are told Mr. Putin in turn forcefully disputed the United States allegations. He says Russia is taking every precaution to make sure a nuclear plant under development in Iran is being used only for commercial energy purposes.

Mr. Putin told President Bush, we are told, Russia in no way wants to contribute to Iran's ballistic missile program, in no way wants to see Iran become a nuclear power, and at a news conference after their private meetings, President Putin suggested perhaps the United States was pointing the finger in the wrong direction; that he believed, and he said Russian intelligence proved, that much of Iran's missile technology came not from Russia, but from the West.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As regarding Iran and some other countries, according to our data, the missile programs of those countries, nuclear programs, are built largely on the basis of the technologies and with the support of the Western companies. We do have such info and we stand ready to share it with our American partners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: United States officials say this is now -- the issue of weapons proliferation between Russia and Iran -- the major source of contention in an otherwise very flourishing, productive relationship, and United States officials say despite the disagreements today, they are optimistic about resolving this down the road, because, they say, President Putin said he was open to additional discussions at the expert level, perhaps through forming some new group or perhaps by using the new partnership Russia will strike with the NATO alliance early next week.

But look for this issue, especially as the war on terrorism continues, to be a major point of contention, even as the United States and Russia celebrate this new friendship, and this new nuclear arms treaty -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, John King, thanks very much, from Moscow.

The language of the treaty is coming under intense criticism, specifically over what will be done with the nuclear warheads.

Many argue simply storing the weapons will lead only to disaster.

Our national security correspondent David Ensor explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are celebrating a new treaty in Moscow. Some critics argue the deal may not make the world much safer, and could even make it less so.

A newspaper cartoon sums up the concern.

"What's scarier than thousands of Russian nukes aimed at us?" it asks. Answer: "Thousands of Russian nukes not aimed at us."

In a former superpower where nuclear materials have been known to go missing in the past, the treaty does not require the Russians, or the Americans for that matter, to destroy the weapons they will remove from missiles and bombers, only to store them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The treaty moves the warheads from atop missiles and bombers, where they're quite secure, into storage, where they are historically and notoriously less secure. There is actually increased risk, as a result of this treaty, that terrorists or some other groups might get their hands on some of the poorly secured warheads or fissile material stored in Russia.

ENSOR: The United States spends about $500 million a year to help Russia improve its security at nuclear, biological and chemical facilities. But there are hundreds of them, including many under- protective facilities, according to weapons specialists.

The new treaty also fails to address a smaller type of nuclear weapon that could be particularly attractive to terrorists or a rogue regime: tactical nuclear weapons -- many of them large nuclear artillery shells.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States has a couple thousand tactical nuclear weapons, but Russia has probably in excess of about 10,000. These are poorly accounted for. These are much more vulnerable to theft or sale or diversion in the future.

ENSOR: Bush administration officials respond that the treaty is not supposed to solve all problems, and that the flexibility it allows to keep nuclear weapons in storage rather than destroy them is important for the United States.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECT.: It would be inexcusable for us to destroy all those weapons and not have them as a backup in the event they're needed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Arms control advocates argue that since the Bush administration has gone for a treaty leaving thousands of partially dismantled Russian nuclear weapons in storage, it must now spend heavily on better security for Russian storage facilities, or risk making the world a more dangerous place rather than a safer one.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: And, David, there are no options in destruction, if the talks were to go to that level?

ENSOR: The weapons could be destroyed, if the talks were to reach a level where they could make an agreement, a treaty, which would have both sides destroying the weapons.

But this is a three-page document. It doesn't get into any of that level of detail, and it leaves both sides with the possibility of storing, rather than destroying, vast numbers of nuclear weapons.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, David Ensor, for that report.

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