MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax-AVN) - A member of the Russian parliament's upper chamber, former deputy chief of staff Colonel General Valery Manilov, believes that the U.S. decision to stockpile nuclear warheads rather than destroy them must be matched by an appropriate international treaty.
Such a step, he said in an interview with Interfax on Thursday, would ensure "full transparency in deactivating and stockpiling these warheads, rather than keeping them as a fig in a pocket during a handshake."
Manilov believes the treaty should also stipulate the eventual destruction of this arsenal as a whole.
Viktor Ozerov, head of the upper house's defense and security committee, in an interview with Interfax linked Washington's decision with the U.S. withdrawal from the ABM accord. "There is every indication that the Americans do not bind themselves by START II commitments any longer, and the stockpiling of nuclear warheads no doubt stirs the feeling of uncertainty," Ozerov noted.
He said if the United States withdraws from the ABM Treaty, Russia, in its turn, could exit the START II Treaty, in which case the Russian side would have the right not to reduce its silo- based intercontinental missiles.