Nuclear Power

From today's RFE/RL Newsline:

U.S. OFFICIAL SIGNALS CONCERN OVER RUSSIAN NUCLEAR AND FOREIGN POLICIES...

Visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker told a Moscow news conference on 6 October that the United States and Europe are concerned by some aspects of Russian nuclear policy with respect to outstanding commitments, local and international media reported the next day. Rademaker said the number of Russian tactical nuclear missiles deployed in European Russia and their targeting worries the European public. Washington is also concerned that Russian companies might have aided a purported Iranian attempt to acquire strategic, long-range missiles, Rademaker added. He then reportedly said the West is troubled over Moscow's failure to abide by a 1999 commitment laid out in the so-called Istanbul Agreement whereby Russia was to have withdrawn fully its troops from Moldova and negotiated a similar pullout from Georgia. "I must say, it's inexplicable to me why we don't see more progress,"Interfax quoted Rademaker as saying. VY

...DRAWING QUICK RETORTS FROM RUSSIAN COUNTERPARTS.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko shrugged off the U.S. criticism over nuclear issues and said on 7 October that as far as Europe is concerned, "the word 'commitment' in this context [of nuclear missiles] is incorrect," Interfax reported 7 October. In a separate statement the same day, Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Alekseev said Russia "will continue to cooperate with Iran on the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Interfax and other media reported. Washington has opposed the roughly $800 million in Russian participation in the continuing construction of a nuclear power plant at Bushehr in southern Iran. "It doesn't matter if there is pressure or not, but what does matter is that we will comply with all legal commitments in cooperation with Iran," Alekseev said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to visit Tehran on 10-11 October and is expected to discuss bilateral nuclear cooperation, "Izvestiya" reported on 7 October. VY