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U.S., Russia to begin nuclear reductions talks
By Charles Aldinger

BRUSSELS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The United States and Russia agreed on Monday to begin technical talks in January to plan details of joint and deep nuclear arms cuts despite their differences on a controversial U.S. missile defence plan.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov announced the meeting of technial experts from both countries following two hours of cordial talks with U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on a range of issues.

Ivanov and Rumsfeld said last week's announcement by U.S. President George W. Bush that Washington would withdraw in six months from the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty between the two countries had not put a chill on U.S.-Russian relations.

"We have come to an agreement that in January, on an expert level, we will start discussing the specific issues or military aspects of radical reductions of strategic offensive weapons," Ivanov said.

"Both levels of reductions and time-frame of those reductions will be discussed and worked out as well as the issues of verification and transparency," he added.

While Russia remains strongly opposed to a U.S. plan to build a national missile defence, which is prohibited by the ABM treaty, Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin each earlier announced plans for deep cuts in their large nuclear arsenals.

DEEP CUTS IN NUCLEAR WARHEADS

The Russian level could go as low as 1,500 to 2,200 warheads while the U.S. level could dip to 1,700 to 2,200.

There was no immediate announcement on the exact date and place of January's technical meeting. But the Rumsfeld-Ivanov meeting went so well the two ministers agreed to meet again on Tuesday.

Both are in town for a gathering of NATO defence ministers.

"We had an excellent meeting, which will be continued," said Rumsfeld at a joint news conference by the two men, who have met several times over the past year on orders from Bush and Putin to work on a new and improved strategic relationship between the two former Cold War adversaries.

Rumsfeld also denied a report he might be opposed to a new plan being discussed by NATO, tentatively dubbed the format of 20, under which Moscow would take a more active part in discussing decisions proposed within the 19-member Atlantic Alliance.

"Weeks and months ago, I sat down with the minister in Moscow and, without prompting, proposed some ways that I thought Russia and NATO might cooperate," said Rumsfeld.

DON'T READ 'MISCHIEF-MAKERS'

"So we need to be careful about reading mischief-makers."

Ivanov and Rumsfeld said they discussed a range of issues, including Russian-NATO cooperation and recent and growing cooperation between the United States and Russia in the war on terrorism. But both cautioned that the war in Afghanistan was not over despite the recent dismantling of Taliban military power in that country.

"Yes. In fact, you're right," Ivanov responded to a reporter who asked if the two countries would move full speed ahead toward a new strategic relationship.

"We still have a desire to bring the relations in the area of strategic weapons to a reliable and predictable area. So we have attached a lot of importance to reductions on strategic offensive weapons."

Ivanov said Russia had not been surprised by the U.S. announcement on the ABM, but he cautioned again it could spark problems for other international and bilateral arms agreements.

"Russia is not concerned or afraid regarding its military security," he said. "But we are very much concerned of how other countries will behave and whether they will apply, or not, to any international agreement, thinking logically that if one country doesn't abide, why should we?"

"This unilateral decision of the United States was not a surprise for us. We still believe it was a mistake. We have been presenting our arguments on the issue for many years," he added.

Rumsfeld earlier told reporters travelling to Brussels with him for the two-day NATO meeting that Wahington still very much wanted closer ties with Russia even as the clock ticked toward next year's U.S. withdrawal from ABM.

"Nothing has changed except that the clock is running," he said.

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