Russia Accuses U.S. of Violating Arms Control Treaties

The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a report accusing the United States of a long list of breaches of existing arms control agreements between the Russia and the U.S. For instance, the report complains that the U.S. is providing military assistance to Georgia, which is alleged to be a violation of OSCE prohibitions on supplying weapons to armed conflict zones to prevent further destabilzation and escalation of hostilities. The report's accusations also include alleged security lapses in weapons labs and failures to dismantle certain nuclear weapons. The Russian report makes use of the U.S. government's own reports to make its points. According to sources interviewed by the New York Times, the Russian report is intended to neutralize certain objections made by the U.S. against Russia's level of compliance with arms control agreements by showing that "no one is holy." The issue is particuarly timely given that the Senate is currently considering ratification of the START-2 Treaty signed by Presidents Obama and Medvedev.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/europe/08russia.html?scp=13&sq=russia&st=nyt (New York Times story)

http://www.mid.ru/Brp_4.nsf/arh/D6942A5B5C23A4FCC325777800257B74?OpenDocument (Full Text of Report in Russian)