Russian Leader Assails U.S. Defenses

May 23, 2007

The man considered to be a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin criticized a landmark Soviet-U.S. arms treaty Wednesday as a "relic of the Cold War," and promised that Russia would have a "sword" capable of piercing a U.S. missile shield.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov made the statements at a two-hour news conference during which he commented on issues ranging from global security to children's sports in what sounded like a presentation of his campaign platform.

Putin has not expressed support of any potential contender for the March 2008 election, and Ivanov has not declared whether he will run. However, he and another first deputy prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, are widely seen as leading candidates being groomed by the Kremlin.

Ivanov, a KGB veteran like Putin, harshly criticized U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying Russia doesn't trust Washington's claims that they are intended to fend off potential missile threats from Iran.

"It can't be accepted on serious expert level," he said. "A radar the U.S. is planning to deploy in the Czech Republic will be capable of scanning air space up to the Ural Mountains."

Ivanov said Russia is not going to build a strategic missile defense system similar to that being developed by the United States, but will take "adequate steps" to respond to the U.S. move.

"A more efficient sword can be found for every shield," he said.

Putin and other Russian officials have said that Russia already has missiles capable of piercing any potential missile defense system and will develop even more powerful weapons.

Ivanov also criticized the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. It eliminated an entire class of medium-range missiles that were then based in Europe.

Ivanov called the treaty "a relic, a rudiment of the Cold War," saying that dozens of nations have developed intermediate-range missiles since the pact was signed, and many of them are located close to Russia's borders. However, he didn't say Russia would opt out of the pact.

Before being named to his current post by Putin in February, Ivanov had been Russia's defense minister since 2001. He was a colleague of Putin's in the Soviet-era KGB in the mid-1970s in St. Petersburg, then rose through the ranks of Soviet and later Russian intelligence to become the deputy head of the Federal Security Service, the main KGB successor agency, in 1998.

The more liberal Medvedev had been the sole first deputy prime minister before Putin elevated Ivanov to the same position _ an indication that both men were being prepared for potential presidential runs. Both have received lavish coverage in the Russian media in recent months.

Putin is barred by law from a third consecutive term and has suggested he may back a favored successor as the vote draws nearer. A candidate with Putin's support would have a huge advantage, in particular because of the Kremlin's influence over the media.

During his news conference Wednesday, Ivanov also defended Putin's move to suspend Russia's observance of another key Cold war-era agreement _ the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty _ which limits the number of military aircraft, tanks and other heavy weapons around Europe.

Putin declared the moratorium after NATO refused to ratify an amended version of the treaty amid differences over Russia's troop withdrawals from the ex-Soviet nations of Georgia and Moldova.

"We won't observe our obligations until others start complying with them," Ivanov said.

At the same time, he rejected claims of a new Cold War, saying Russia and the United States have been cooperating productively in preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

"Russia isn't the Soviet Union. Russia isn't going to return to an arms race, and our military budget proves that," he said, adding that the nation's military budget accounted for around 2.7 percent of GDP in recent years. By comparison, military spending in Soviet times accounted for up to a third of the nation's GDP.

Ivanov also said that heavy drinking and corruption were two of Russia's biggest problems and he promised to tackle both of them. "We need to make people's lives better and better," he said.