Kozyrev Calls START-2 Ratification `Most Urgent Task'

By ITAR-TASS diplomatic correspondent Andrey Urban
Moscow ITAR-TASS
1342 GMT 28 Mar 95


[FBIS Transcribed Text] Moscow March 28 TASS -- The ratification of the START-2 Treaty is the most urgent task these days, Russian Foreign Minister Andrey Kozyrev said on Tuesday before leaving for the Middle East.

"We are trying to coordinate our activities with the U.S. Administration to pave the way for the ratification of START-2," Kozyrev stressed, noting that neither the U.S. nor Russia has ratified it.

"It is also essential that no attempts be made to evade the ABM [Antiballistic Missile] Treaty, since both treaties are closely connected with each other," Kozyrev said. Russia is seeking to work out an agreement with the U.S. guaranteeing that neither side would try to evade the treaty. The solution of these important problems will offer an opportunity to start practical discussions of the START-3 Treaty, Kozyrev said.

It is most probably that the question of the START-3 will be touched upon at the Russian-U.S. Moscow summit during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of victory in the great patriotic war, the minister concluded.



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