M A I N   N E W S

CTBT ratified by Duma

MOSCOW, April 21 (Reuters) — Russia’s lower House of Parliament today ratified the global nuclear test ban, giving President-elect Vladimir Putin a moral boost ahead of planned arms talks in the USA next week.

The state Duma voted in closed session by 298 to 74 in favour of the test ban, with three abstentions.

“The treaty has been ratified by an overwhelming majority. This is an important step towards preventing the spread of nuclear weapons,” Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters.

Ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) came one week after the Duma approved the Start-2 nuclear arms reduction pact with the USA and underlined Mr Putin’s strong influence over deputies.

Swift ratification of both START-2 and the test ban treaty have underlined Mr Putin’s firm grip over the Duma, in sharp contrast to the wrangling which marked relations between the chamber and his predecessor, Mr Boris Yeltsin.

But Russian leftists were uneasy at the pace of progress on nuclear arms control.

‘’We are seriously concerned that in the past couple of weeks there has been a kind of ratification race in this country while the President has not yet taken office and the government has still not been formed,’’ said Agrarian Deputy Nikolai Kharitonov.

“We think there is no need for such a race. We could wait a little while,’’ he said.

Among the world’s other official nuclear powers, France and Britain have ratified the CTBT. The USA and China have signed the treaty but have not yet ratified it.

Nuclear-capable India and Pakistan remain outside the CTBT. Israel, which has never officially acknowledged possessing nuclear weapons, has signed the treaty but not ratified it.

Mr Ivanov travels to the USA this weekend for a major United Nations conference on halting the spread of nuclear weapons.

Earlier, the Kremlin’s Security Council today formally approved Russia’s new military doctrine which maps out defence tactics and boosts the role of nuclear weapons.

Russian news agencies quoted Mr Putin as saying he would sign the document later in the day.

The military doctrine, tentatively approved by the Security Council in February, is intended to replace a 1993 version. One of its key principles is that Moscow can no longer ward off a mass conventional attack without using nuclear weapons.

Mr Putin has said the new doctrine is Moscow’s response to changes in the strategic landscape, including NATO’s bombing campaign last year against Yugoslavia and tensions in Central Asian states.

Some western officials have criticised the doctrine as too confrontational. But on Friday Mr Ivanov, a key Putin ally and Secretary of the Security Council, dismissed western fears.

Interfax news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as saying the new military doctrine was defensive in character and was aimed primarily at deterring aggression against Russia.

“The text of the military doctrine meets Russia’s national interests,” he was quoted as saying.

The military doctrine follows a broader national security concept already approved.

Russia’s Security Council is advisory but wields considerable influence. Mr Putin was its Secretary until he became Prime Minister last August. Mr Ivanov, like Mr Putin, is an ex-KGB spy from St Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Mr Putin was today quoted as saying Moscow had received proposals from Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov on a peace plan and had responded to them with its own amendments.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted Mr Putin as saying that the Advisory Security Council had considered the peace proposals last month. It had sent back its amended version to Mr Maskhadov but had not heard anything further since.

Amid hints that both sides might be searching for a compromise to end the fighting, Mr Maskhadov said in an interview in Kommersant newspaper that he had ordered his men to begin a ceasefire in Chechnya as part of a peace process.

Mr Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies after a meeting of the Security Council, said the Chechen leader was considered a criminal but that he might benefit from an amnesty offered to Chechen rebels who laid down their arms.

Mr Putin also said Mr Maskhadov could come to talks and that if he needed help to hand over other rebels Moscow would give it. Russia has expressed doubts that Mr Maskhadov retains any authority in Chechnya and suspects he would not be able to deliver on promises to guarantee the rebels’ surrender.

Russia leases AWACS to India

NEW DELHI, April 21 (UNI) — Russia has leased to India an airborne early warning and control system (AWACS) for 40 days to check ground installations, including radars and the response time of the Indian Air Force fighter fleet.

The IL-76 A-50 AWACS has been leased for 40 days — it will remain on the ground for 10 days and do 30 days of flying. India will pay to Russia $ 1.95 million for the lease period.

India is not willing to buy the Russian AWACS with totally Russian avionics. India has asked Russia to upgrade it with Israeli equipment and the same system which Russia has supplied to China. Lately Russia had been under pressure not to supply India the upgraded AWACS.

It is understood that a Russian team headed by Mr Babich, Director-General of the Rosvor Company, has gone back to Moscow without striking a deal.

The Russians process their data on the ground while India wants to process such data provided by AWACS in the air itself and guide the fighter aircraft.