MOSCOW. June 30 (Interfax-AVN) - The linkage between the strategic arms and missile defense issues is logical and unconditional, Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"This linkage is objective. If we fail to preserve this linkage, we will not be able to reduce the number of warhead to a certain number. The logic of this linkage is strict and unconditional," Kosachyov said on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio station.
However, at first additional reductions of warheads and the modernization of verification mechanisms are required, Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman said, adding that the missile defense is no the shield directed against Russia.
Asked about the probability of reaching an agreement on strategic arms by this December, Kosachyov said that he is a "cautious optimist." "In my opinion, 60% to 40%, where 60% is that we will together defeat new challenges and threats," he said.
Commenting on the same question Berman said that 70% to 30% that Russia and the United States will reach an agreement.