Moscow And Beijing Going Along On International Issues

Moscow and Beijing go along on key international issues, such as world security. This is indicated, among others, by today's meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov and Chinese Ambassador to Russia Wu Tao. The ministry's information & press department reports that in connection with recent pronouncements of U.S. President George W. Bush on START- and ABM-related issues, Mamedov reaffirmed Russia's consistent and well-corroborated stance in favor of the preservation and consolidation of the 1972 ABM Treaty-the cornerstone of strategic stability. As he sees it, the treaty should be a basis for further reducing strategic offensive weapons, boosting the efficiency of the international regimes of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery vehicles, and for preventing an arms race in outer space. The Russian side also pointed out the particular topicality of the implementation, in today's complicated international situation, of a wide program of measures proposed by President Vladimir Putin for nuclear disarmament and for the non-proliferation and neutralization of new challenges to global and regional stability.