RUSSIA WILL RESPOND ADEQUATELY TO US WITHDRAWAL FROM ABM TREATY








MOSCOW, 2 March. /Corr. RIA Novosti Alexander Smotrov/.


	Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Ilya Klebanov announced on Friday that Russia have possibilities to respond adequately to a US withdrawal from the 1972 ABM treaty. According to him, if Washington were to take this step, then there would be "a very serious alteration in the world." The vice-premier stressed that Russia could counter the USA's deployment of a national defence shield. Klebanov said that Russia had the technical solutions needed to set up any ABM system, while it would not be necessary "to create anything new." The vice-premier made this statement on the fortieth anniversary of the first successful interception of a ballistic missile in the Soviet Union. This took place on March 4th, 1961 at a firing range in Kazakhstan and marked the first stage in Russia's ABM system. Klebanov stressed that Russia had been the world leader in these systems, prompting the United States to go to the negotiating table and reach the 1972 treaty.