Powell Confident Of Russia Nuke Accord

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed confidence on Sunday that an accord on deep cuts in strategic weapons arsenals would be signed at a Russia-U.S. summit this month, Interfax news agency reported.

In a Russian translation of comments to be broadcast later in the day, Powell said Moscow and Washington had "made progress" in eliminating differences over the deal.

A new agreement on weapons reductions is to be a centerpiece of Bush's May 23-26 visit to Russia. The agreement is to outline cuts to 1,700-2,200 long-range warheads each, down from the 6,000 currently allowed under the 1991 START I treaty.

"I am sure that when President Bush comes to Moscow the treaty will be signed," Interfax quoted Powell as saying in a video link with a television talk show.

Powell said the accord would underscore a new stage in post-Cold War relations between the two countries which were now "friends and partners, not enemies...The days when we threatened each other with total destruction are behind us."

The White House, meanwhile, declined comment on a newspaper report Sunday citing intelligence suggesting Russia is preparing to resume nuclear tests and said it expected Moscow to abide by its self-declared moratorium.

The New York Times reported that Bush administration officials had briefed selected members of Congress on what they described as disturbing intelligence indicating Russia was preparing to resume nuclear tests.

Sean McCormack, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, declined comment on the report, saying the Bush administration did not discuss intelligence matters.

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton arrived in Moscow for the final stage of talks to clinch an accord before presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Both presidents have agreed on the principle of reducing strategic arsenals to between 1,700 and 2,220 for each side from current levels of 6,000 to 7,000.

Differences have centered on methods of counting and on Russian objections to U.S. proposals to store, rather than destroy, warheads removed from weapons.

Russia has also called for some reference to be made to defensive systems -- meaning U.S. plans to build a missile defense system. Moscow has generally muted its protests to Bush's decision last year to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty to proceed with the scheme.

In talks leading up to the summit, both sides have said the document to be signed will be short and likely to be accompanied by a declaration of principles governing future relations.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, in remarks on the television program quoted by Interfax, said the two sides had yet to agree on whether the document would be called an agreement or a treaty. The latter would require ratification by both countries' parliaments.

"Given the importance of the problem, we believe that it must be a treaty," Ivanov was quoted as saying.

Ivanov also told the program he hoped an agreement would be clinched at talks this week in Iceland redefining Russia's relations with NATO within a new council. The agreement would then be signed in Rome later in the month.

He said the council, to replace a body set up in 1997, would be "not an advisory or consultative body but an executive organ."