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Moscow Unswayed by U.S. Nonproliferation Pressure
Despite a visit this week to Moscow by U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, Russia announced no changes to two policies the Bush administration is seeking to reverse: Russia’s nuclear assistance to Iran and its refusal so far to join a U.S.-led international effort to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, May 20). During talks yesterday with Russian officials, Bolton discussed Russia’s construction of the Bushehr nuclear reactor for Iran — a project the Bush administration opposes. In a press conference following the talks, Bolton said Washington and Moscow still have some outstanding differences over Tehran’s nuclear efforts (see GSN, May 17). “There may be tactical difference on the Iranian issues … but there is no fundamental difference over the fact that Iran should not have a nuclear program,” Bolton said. Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency Director Alexander Rumyantsev said yesterday, though, that Russia has not violated any international regualtions through its aid to Iran. “We have said, and continue to say, that we are not breaking any rules by cooperating with Iran,” Rumyantsev said (Dmitry Zaks, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 20). Bolton also said yesterday that he hoped Russia would join the Proliferation Security Initiative before a planned June 1 conference in Poland to mark the one-year anniversary of the effort (see GSN, April 30). “Russia’s government asked a number of perfectly legitimate and sensible questions which we are trying to answer,” Bolton said. “But we think the government is now making its final decision on the subject and we are hopeful that they may confirm their decision to join the PSI core group,” he added. Russia is the only member of the Group of Eight global economic powers yet to join the PSI core group, Reuters reported. U.S. officials hope Russia’s involvement would push China toward joining the effort. Moscow, though, still has a number of concerns regarding the effort, such as its legality under international law, according to Reuters. “We have similar or close strategic goals with the United States as far as nonproliferation is concerned,” Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak as saying. “We are satisfied with the consultations, although not all details have been coordinated,” Kislyak added (Oleg Shchedrov, Reuters, May 20).
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