MOSCOW, Mar 16 (AFP): Russia's lower house of parliament will not ratify a future nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States (US) unless it includes links to missile defence issues, its speaker said Tuesday.
"We will not ratify it if the questions of the link between strategic offensive weapons and missile defence are not examined," Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said at a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart.
Gryzlov said that moves by the United States to install missile defence facilities in countries such as Bulgaria are of a "particularly sensitive character for Russia."
Some observers have said that a Russian insistence on a link with missile defence is the main problem holding up agreement on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the two countries.
Gryzlov is a top official from the ruling United Russia party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and is known for rarely stepping away from the official line.
Duma could block US disarmament treaty
FE Team | Published: March 17, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
Share if you like