- MOSCOW - Top US general Henry
H. Shelton delivered a stern rebuke to Russia Tuesday for staging Soviet-style
war games, warning that such Cold War mentality was souring relations between
the former foes.
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- US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Henry H. Shelton,
who flew into Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart General Anatoly
Kvashnin, told him that Washington's patience was running out, US military
sources told AFP.
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- Last month, Russian military leaders boasted that warplanes
had buzzed the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, taking its crew by surprise.
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- The Pentagon confirmed that Russian fighters had flown
several hundred feet directly over the Kitty Hawk October 17 in the Sea
of Japan, taking photographs of the deck that were later e-mailed by the
Russians to the vessel.
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- Russia also deployed five strategic Bear bombers in November
to bases in the Far East, in what the Pentagon claimed was preparation
for training runs to probe US air defenses around Alaska.
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- Shelton told reporters after the talks that he and Kvashnin
had "discussed the rhetoric that can sometimes accompany such incidents.
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- "We do not need to have this type of rhetoric associated
with our operations and operational exercises," he added.
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- Despite the sharp warning, both sides were at pains to
downplay any fundamental rift in their military relations, which soured
during the NATO war against Yugoslavia last year.
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- The two generals signed an agreement confirming contacts
and exchanges this year between the US and Russian militaries.
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- And although Russian military sources had indicated the
two generals would address prickly issues including Moscow's intention
to resume arms sales to Iran and a planned US missile shield, officially
neither were on the agenda.
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- "From the US perspective, the NMD (national missile
defence system) is a political issue and one that will be dealt with by
the US administration at the political level," Shelton said.
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- Referring to Iran, he added: "It's an area of concern
for us because we see that it could destabilise the region but we hope
that this will be sorted out at political levels."
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- Kvashnin also insisted: "We didn't discuss the political
issue but I don't think there will be any problems and we'll work in accordance
with international agreements."
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- Last week, the Russian army's second-in-command dismissed
as "unacceptable" US threats to slap economic sanctions against
Russia should it resume military cooperation with Iran in violation of
a secret 1995 agreement.
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- Moscow announced last month it was scrapping a five-year-old
agreement with Washington ending conventional arms sales to Iran, a decision
that prompted a White House warning that trade ties could suffer as a result.
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- Washington for its part wants to amend the Anti-Ballistic
Missile treaty, the cornerstone of Cold War nuclear deterrence, so it can
forge ahead with plans to defend itself against attacks from hostile states
like Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
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- Moscow insists the 1972 ABM treaty is the lynchpin of
international disarmament efforts, and has flatly refused to renegotiate
the document.
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- Kvashnin reiterated this stance, but repeated an offer
made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to slash the number of each country's
nuclear warheads to less than 1,500.
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- Cash-strapped Russia finds it costly to maintain its
ageing nuclear arsenal and could compromise over the ABM treaty in return
for a radical nuclear arms reduction treaty.
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