MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's defense minister disavowed an eye-catching arms control proposal from his nuclear missiles chief Tuesday, saying Moscow would not countenance changes in the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
In written answers to questions from Reuters, Marshal Igor Sergeyev also said he planned to discuss ways to help retrain officers made redundant and to avoid submarine accidents during talks in London and at NATO (news - web sites) headquarters in Brussels this week.
Last month, the head of the Strategic Rocket Forces, General Vladimir Yakovlev, said it would be hard to persuade the United States to ditch its plans for a Star Wars-style shield against rogue missiles and to avoid rewriting the ABM treaty altogether.
He proposed introducing an index of strategic weapons as a counterbalance.
But Sergeyev said: ``At the moment various opinions are being expressed about solving the problem of retaining the ABM treaty.
``I should like to stress again that Russia's position on the question of the ABM treaty is consistent and unchangeable. Russia will not agree to any 'adaptation' of the ABM treaty which would allow national anti-missile defenses to be deployed and thus in fact destroy the treaty.''
Russian and Western arms control experts were more intrigued at the time by Yakovlev's comments than President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites)'s own revived proposal the same day to Washington for cuts in nuclear weapons. It was not clear then whether Yakovlev's comments were a trial balloon agreed with Sergeyev and Putin.
Sergeyev, a former missile chief himself, left little doubt he was disavowing Yakovlev's idea, under which anti-missile systems would be lumped together with nuclear forces. A country wanting to increase one would have to make cuts in the other.
Submarines Also On Agenda
``We have not held any talks on this question (adapting ABM) and we will not hold any,'' Sergeyev said. ``Our position on this is dictated by the highest interests of maintaining strategic stability and national and international security.''
Putin said in his proposal before meeting President Clinton (news - web sites) in Brunei last month that Moscow would continue to talk to Washington about the ABM treaty. But he also described it as a cornerstone of post-World War Two disarmament accords.
The United States wants to alter the ABM treaty to allow it to deploy a limited National Missile Defense against rogue rockets. Both presidential contenders -- Democrat Al Gore (news - web sites) and Republican George W. Bush (news - web sites) -- back the scheme in some form.
Sergeyev gave approval for his answers to be published as he flew to Brussels for a meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council, a discussion forum aimed at improving ties between the Alliance and Moscow. He flies on to London from Brussels for his first official visit to Britain.
While ruling out talks on ABM, he picked up on another Putin proposal for a non-strategic missile defense that plays on European criticism of U.S. plans and hinted at refinements.
``Strong cooperation (with NATO) could possibly lie ahead in the area of setting up a European anti-missile system which should be aimed at guaranteeing that strategic and regional stability is maintained in Europe,'' he said.
``To bring this initiative to life we have the requisite proposals which I plan to discuss with Britain's chief of Defense Staff,'' he added.
Britain has played an important role in retraining Russian officers made redundant in earlier post-Soviet defense cuts. Russia plans to cut more than half a million more men by 2005.
``Significant cuts lie ahead for the armed forces personnel which will create a huge problem because of the need to help them adapt to civilian life,'' Sergeyev said.
He said he would discuss ways to improve Britain's training program to cope with the new cuts -- a sign he may ask British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon for more funding.
He said an important question to be discussed with NATO was how to rescue submarine crews.
``The views of Russia and NATO on this question and on how to agree on it almost coincide and we hope for balanced cooperation in this area,'' he said.
He did not mention the Kursk (news - web sites) disaster in which a submarine sank in August with the loss of all 118 sailors on board.
Russian officials have said a collision with a foreign submarine was the most likely cause but NATO has denied its vessels were involved. Sergeyev said he aimed to discuss a bilateral deal with Britain on avoiding submarine accidents.