Russian leader - U.S. exit from ABM treaty 'mistake'

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty a "mistake."

In a nationwide television address, Putin repeated Russia's often-stated position that the 1972 treaty is a cornerstone of world security.

"This step was not a surprise for us. However, we consider it a mistake," Putin said.

President Bush gave Moscow formal notice on Thursday that Washington was withdrawing from the treaty, marking an end to attempts to negotiate a compromise with Russia. The decision goes into effect in six months.

Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told the Echo of Moscow radio station that Moscow would not react harshly to the U.S. decision.

"It will voice regret about the withdrawal if it happens, but the reaction will be calm because we think that Russia's nuclear missile potential is sufficient to protect our national interests," Yastrzhembsky said.

The ABM treaty prohibits the development, testing and deployment of strategic missile defense systems and components that are based in the air, at sea or in space. Russia has a large enough arsenal to deter attack, officials have said, but China and other nations may feel less secure. Chinese officials have warned their nation may respond by increasing the number of its nuclear warheads.

World security danger

Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, chief of the general staff of the armed forces, said the U.S. decision would endanger world security, but not Russia's, and could lead to a new arms race.

"From a military point of view, the problem of U.S. withdrawal from the ABM treaty can be solved," Kvashnin said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Kvashnin said the U.S. withdrawal would "lead to a change in the military-political situation and reflect negatively on strategic stability as a whole," Interfax reported. "This will untie the hands of a series of states and could lead to a new round of the arms race." The U.S. withdrawal would give the Americans the green light to conduct tests outlawed by the treaty.