RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ON ABM DEFENCE








MOSCOW, March 12, 2001. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/. Russia's proposals concerning a non-strategic ABM system in Europe is an exact antithesis to the States' plans to deploy a national missile defence system, said Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, who heads the Chief Department of International Military Cooperation at the Russian defence system, at today's briefing in Moscow.


	According to the general, the difference between two approaches is that Russia's proposals "are well within the norms of non-strategic ABM defence and shall not lead to violations of international commitments in the sphere." At the same time, the States are acting against the 1972 ABM Treaty, which is the basic document dealing with strategic stability, declared General Ivanov. "Their NMS plans will result in competition between defensive and offensive weapons, which may thwart the effort to limit conventional arms," he stressed.