Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 3, 1993 TAG: 9301030085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
LEADERS TOAST MISSILE CUTS
President Bush arrived here Saturday to sign what he called, in a dinner toast at the Kremlin, "the most significant arms reduction treaty ever."Bush said, "The two powers that once divided the world have now come together to make it a better and safer place."
The treaty, which Bush and Yeltsin are to sign today, slashes each side's nuclear arsenal by two-thirds and eliminates those weapons that have long been deemed the most powerful and dangerous.
On his last official summit, with only 18 days left as president, Bush also said he was confident the treaty "is of tremendous importance" to his successor, Bill Clinton. He added, "I am confident that you will find him a 100 percent partner in working for this U.S.-Russian relationship that we treasure so much."
Yeltsin expressed hope there would be "no lull in the Russian-American dialogue." He said, "Allow me to consider the START II treaty as our joint gift to the peoples of the earth."
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II forces both sides, over 10 years, to cut their stores to no more than 3,500 long-range nuclear weapons. The United States has about 12,000 weapons and Russia has about 11,000.
The treaty eliminates all land-based missiles that carry more than one warhead. The United States has 550 such missiles, armed with 2,000 nuclear warheads. Russia has 700 missiles carrying 5,800 warheads.
A senior U.S. official told reporters Saturday that eliminating those missiles "will remove, once and for all . . . the capability of that dreaded thing called `the first strike.' "
It also allows far more open inspection of each other's missiles and bombers, including opening up missile nose cones and examining parts of the super-secret B-2 Stealth bomber, the official said.