State Duma Defeats Motion On US ABM Withdrawal

The State Duma /lower house/ has not adopted a motion proposed by deputy defence committee chairman Alexei Arbatov to include a draft address to the US Congress on today's agenda. A RIA Novosti correspondent reports that this document would have expressed a negative attitude on the part of the Duma towards the USA's announced withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty. Arbatov was supported by 161 deputies, while there were 59 votes against the motion and 1 abstention. The majority needed to adopt the motion was 226. Chairman of the Duma foreign affairs committee Dmitri Rogozin said that he agreed with Arbatov that an address should be made. However, he stressed that his committee was planning to prepare a draft document next week in conjunction with the defence committee.