News

DATE=1/26/99 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-44716 TITLE=ALBRIGHT/RUSSIA UPDATE (L) BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN DATELINE=MOSCOW CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: SENIOR U-S AND RUSSIAN OFFICIALS SAY THE TWO COUNTRIES REMAIN FAR APART ON SEVERAL KEY ISSUES, FOLLOWING TWO DAYS OF BILATERAL TALKS IN MOSCOW. FROM THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL, V-O-A'S PETER HEINLEIN REPORTS RUSSIAN LEADERS HELD THEIR GROUND IN OPPOSING A U-S REQUEST TO AMEND THE 1972 ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY. TEXT: SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT ARRIVED IN MOSCOW MONDAY SAYING SHE HOPED TO NARROW DIFFERENCES ON ISSUES THAT HAVE SOURED U-S/RUSSIA TIES. AFTER TWO DAYS OF TALKS WITH SENIOR RUSSIAN OFFICIALS, MS. ALBRIGHT TOLD REPORTERS THAT DESPITE SEVERAL OBVIOUS DISAGREEMENTS, SHE IS SATISFIED THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE ON A "GOOD ROAD." ///ALBRIGHT ACT/// THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ISSUES THAT ARE ON THE TABLE WHEN WE TALK, AND ON SOME OF THEM WE AGREE TOTALLY AND ON SOME OF THEM WE DISAGREE, PARTIALLY. BUT I THINK THAT IS IN THE SPIRIT FOR TWO IMPORTANT COUNTRIES WHO HAVE THEIR OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS, AND IT IS PERFECTLY PROPER. ///END ACT/// MS. ALBRIGHT'S COUNTERPART, FOREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV, TOLD A JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE TUESDAY THAT DESPITE WIDE AREAS OF DISAGREEMENT, THE TWO COUNTRIES' OVERALL GOALS SEEM TO COINCIDE. HE DESCRIBED HIS TALKS WITH SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT AS PRODUCTIVE. ///IVANOV ACT IN RUSSIAN, IN FULL, THEN FADE TO.../// HE SAYS, "WE THINK THE LACK OF AGREEMENT ON SOME MATTERS MUST NOT BE AN OBSTACLE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR PARTNERSHIP." BUT THOSE AREAS OF DISAGREEMENTS ARE IN SOME AREAS SUBSTANTIAL, AMONG THEM IRAQ, KOSOVO, AND THE U-S REQUEST TO AMEND THE 1972 ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY TO ALLOW FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A NUCLEAR MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD. IN A TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH MS. ALBRIGHT TUESDAY, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN SHARPLY CRITICIZED ANTI-MISSILE SHIELD CONCEPT. FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV SUGGESTED CHANGING THE A-B-M ACCORD COULD UNDO THE ENTIRE ARMS CONTROL PROCESS. ///SECOND IVANOV ACT IN RUSSIAN, IN FULL THEN FADE TO.../// HE SAYS, "WE FIRMLY BELIEVE FURTHER REDUCTION OF STRATEGIC MISSILES CAN ONLY BE DONE ON CONDITION THIS TREATY IS PRESERVED AS A CORNERSTONE OF STRATEGIC STABILITY." MS. ALBRIGHT TOLD REPORTERS SHE HAD TRIED TO REASSURE RUSSIAN LEADERS THAT TALKS ON THE A-B-M WERE WHAT SHE CALLED A "FIRST EXCHANGE OF VIEWS" ABOUT POSSIBLE CHANGES TO THE ACCORD. ///SECOND ALBRIGHT ACT/// I STRESSED TO THE FOREIGN MINISTER THAT WE ARE ONLY AT THE BEGINNING OF A LONG PROCESS, ONE WHICH WE WANT TO WORK WITH RUSSIA TO PRESERVE THE SECURITY OF BOTH OUR COUNTRIES. ///END ACT/// MS. ALBRIGHT SAID SOME PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE ON THEIR DISPUTE OVER KOSOVO. SHE SAID THE TWO COUNTRIES HAD AGREED THE RECENT MASSACRE OF KOSOVO ALBANIANS SHOULD BE FULLY INVESTIGATED AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. KOSOVO WILL BE ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S AGENDA ON SEVERAL OF HER OTHER STOPS DURING HER CURRENT TOUR. SHE LEAVES MOSCOW WEDNESDAY FOR SAUDI ARABIA AND EGYPT, THEN WILL VISIT BRITAIN AND FRANCE BEFORE RETURNING TO WASHINGTON. (SIGNED) NEB/PFH/PCF 26-Jan-99 3:38 PM EST (2038 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .