The Bush administration has told Russia that the United States will cut back several disarmament projects due to concern that Russia is not complying with treaties banning chemical and biological weapons, senior administration officials said (see GSN, March 20).

The State Department last week issued a cable saying it could not certify that Russia is committed to complying with the treaties, the New York Times reported.  U.S. law requires such certification, so the Bush administration will be unable to start certain new programs and will reduce funding for some projects.

The decision not to certify Russian compliance does not mean the United States is accusing Russia of violating any treaties, nor does it mean the United States cannot certify compliance in the future.

Refusing to certify Russian commitment, however, sends a message to Moscow that the United States demands more cooperation and honesty related to WMD issues, officials said.

“This is a signal of our seriousness about compliance on arms control and the need to meet all obligations under the chemical and biological weapons conventions,” said a senior administration official.

The decision not to certify will affect several cooperative programs to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in Russia, according to the Times.  Pentagon Cooperative Threat Reduction programs worth $450 million, and State Department programs worth $70 million will probably be affected, officials said (see related GSN story, today).

Programs likely to be affected include military exchanges and efforts to ensure against theft of nuclear materials.  Authorities have already canceled several planned visits to discuss new projects, officials said.  Several State Department programs will also run out of funds soon.

The law establishing the Cooperative Threat Reduction program does not allow the president to waive the certification requirement.  The Bush administration asked Congress to provide the president with such authority in the emergency supplemental spending bills for the State Department.

Congressional aides said Congress will probably grant the waiver authority but not in time for U.S. President George W. Bush’s May meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin (see GSN, March 28).

The Energy Department programs, worth $500 million, do not require certification and will not be affected.

Insufficient Cooperation

The decision not to certify Russian commitment was prompted by U.S. concerns about Russian refusal to provide accurate information and to send a strain of anthrax to U.S. scientists, the Times reported.

According to the Times, the United States has approved plans to help Russian destroy its chemical weapons stockpile, but Russia has not said that the Soviet Union produced “fourth generation” chemical weapons — far more lethal that the most advanced U.S. chemical weapons (see GSN, March 20).

Russia has also said the Soviet Union never developed certain pathogens, including some genetically modified strains capable of resisting vaccines and antibiotics.  Russian defectors previously involved with the biological weapons program, however, have said the Soviet Union did have such pathogens (see GSN, Nov. 30, 2001).  The Russian denials are absurd, said one U.S. official.

U.S. officials also want to be able to visit four biological laboratories under Russian military control where Russia has denied access.  Russia has said the United States also does not allow access to U.S. military laboratories.

Finally, Russia has refused to allow Russian scientists to send the United States a genetically modified strain of anthrax that reportedly can defeat Russia’s anthrax vaccine, although the two countries signed a scientific strain exchange agreement that requires Russia to send a sample.

Russia has said it has not violated the biological or chemical weapons treaties.

National Security

The Bush administration has said that cooperative nonproliferation and disarmament programs suit U.S. national security interests, but the administration also wants Russia to cooperate more.

“What we’re trying to do,” said one senior official, “is send a signal that we require full compliance with the chemical and biological weapons.”

“But we’ve also made clear in the review of our assistance programs to Russia and the record size of our budget requests that these programs are very much in our own national security interests,” the official said.  “We’re trying to find a way to bring these two goals together.”

Several arms control advocates said the decision not to certify and therefore to cut back on some programs is unwise.

“It’s in our country’s interest to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction from leaking out of Russia in any way we can,” said Rose Gottemoeller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  “So undercutting these programs is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot” (Judith Miller, New York Times, April 8).

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