Fate of mankind resting on US missile defence talks, says Putin

The Russian President, Mr Putin, cautioned yesterday that the "fate of mankind" depended on Moscow's negotiations with the US…

The Russian President, Mr Putin, cautioned yesterday that the "fate of mankind" depended on Moscow's negotiations with the US over Washington's controversial plans to abandon the 1972 ABM treaty.

Mr Putin warned that Moscow was prepared to drop its plans to eliminate nuclear missiles from its arsenal should President Bush go ahead with further testing of the missile shield.

"We are ready for future controlled reduction of weapons of mass destruction to the level of 1,500 warheads and even lower," Mr Putin told a joint press conference with the visiting French President, Mr Jacques Chirac.

"But this problem is closely linked to keeping the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty," said Mr Putin.

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"We do not want to monopolise this discussion with the United States, because the fate of mankind rides on how this question is resolved."

Mr Putin added that "one binding security system cannot be replaced with another if [the new system] flings open the doors to new excesses and threats."

Mr Chirac for his part said that missile defence was an issue that had to be resolved between Moscow and Washington and issued no direct comment on the dispute. France has previously expressed concern over US missile defence plans.

Mr Igor Sergeyev, Mr Putin's spokesman on nuclear issues, warned over the weekend that if Washington withdrew from the ABM treaty, Russia would take the necessary measures "to secure its national interests and its natural security."

Last Wednesday Russia testfired an intercontinental ballistic missile of a kind which Moscow has earlier threatened to pile up with nuclear warheads in breach of existing agreements.