World

Call For Baltic Nuke Inspections

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 3, 2001 / 1:12 PM EST / CBS

Poland on Thursday called for an "international inspection" to check reports that Russia has moved nuclear weapons into its Baltic military enclave of Kaliningrad.

"Poland needs to monitor the situation in Kaliningrad on a day-to-day basis, and it is doing that," Defense Minister Bronislaw Komorowski said on Polish television. "Verification will include pushing for international inspection, which is a normal thing."

Russia, whose Baltic Fleet is based in Kaliningrad, has denied moving nuclear weapons into the area and insists it is sticking to its commitment to keep the Baltic Sea a nuclear-free zone.

The alleged transfer of tactical nuclear weapons, first reported Wednesday in The Washington Times, "doesn't correspond with reality," said Anatoly Lobsky, a spokesman for the Baltic Fleet. "The Baltic Sea has been declared a nuclear-free zone, and the Baltic Fleet unfailingly fulfills it commitments."

Poland's Komorowski was skeptical of the denial, noting that Russia has in the past barred inspection of "some places" in the Kaliningrad region.

"When one does not let somebody in, it means he has something to hide," Komorowski said.

Clinton administration officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say there have been indications for more than a year that Russia has moved nuclear weapons into the Baltics. The officials say it is not clear how long the weapons have been there, but some were moved in recent months.

The Times reported that Russia moved nuclear weapons last summer to the base in Kaliningrad, a Baltic Sea port city northeast of Poland, on a sliver of Russian territory not connected to the main part of Russia.

The Times report said the weapons are believed to be for use on a new missile with a range of about 44 miles — enough to hit targets in Lithuania. They could also strike targets in Poland.

Some observers suggest that the movement of Russian nuclear weapons might be Moscow's response to NATO's eastern expansion in 1999 when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined the alliance. The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia want to be the next new members.

Russia views NATO expansion as a potential military threat and has said it would undermine arms control.

But U.S. officials downplay the theory that the weapons were moved in response to NATO expansion, saying if Russia wanted to protest expansion, it would do so publicly, not secretly.

Tochka-9K79 missile
A.K.A.: SS-21, Scarab
Range: 40 miles

Russian military analysts also questioned the logic of such a deloyment, particularly the choice to station ground-based, Tochka missiles at a naval base, because their potential targets could just as easily be hit with missiles based on Russia's mainland.

Several U.S. officials speculate that Russia may be transferring the tactical nuclear weapons because its conventional forces are weak and Moscow has acknowledged it may have to rely more heavily on nuclear forces.

It might be a move by President Vladimir Putin to strengthen Russia's bargaining power against President-elect George W. Bush's professed aim to build a missile defense shield to protect the U.S. from attack by "rogue states."

Putin has said the shield would shatter the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and last year deployed nuclear-capable "Bear" bombers close to the Bering Straits after calling them a cheap alternative to the U.S. shield.

Officials say NATO was briefed about the movement of the weapons.

Moscow has long argued for the removal of all tactical, or short-range, nuclear weapons from Europe.

Russia and the United States announced in 1991 and 1992 nonbinding agreements to reduce arsenals of tactical nuclear weapons. The Russians said that all tactical nuclear weapons were removed from Eastern Europe to more secure areas in Russia. It was not clear whether that included nuclear weapons based in Kaliningrad.

The United States withdrew many missiles and other nuclear weapons from Europe in the 1980s and 1990s but maintains some nuclear bombs for aircraft based there.

Asked about the report, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said, "We don't comment on intelligence." The Times quoted Bacon as saying, "If the Russians have placed tactical nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, it would violate their pledge that they were removing nuclear weapons from the Baltics, and that the Baltics should be nuclear-free."

Also Thursday, Russia accused the United States of violating the START I arms-reduction treaty by failing to destroy all stages of its MX missiles. Under the 1991 treaty, the United States agreed to abandon the MX program.

There was no immediate response from Washington to the statement.