Statements on Missile Defense

"In making our determination [whether to deploy a limited National Missile Defense], we will ... review progress in achieving our arms control objectives, including negotiating any amendments to the ABM Treaty that may be required to accommodate a possible NMD deployment." --Statement of US President Bill Clinton, July 23, 1999   "The message to Bill Clinton notes, in part, that a collapse of the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty resulting from the deployment in the United States of systems of territorial anti-missile defense would have extremely dangerous consequences for the entire arms control process." --Kremlin statement describing November 2nd letter from Russian President Boris Yeltsin to U.S. President Bill Clinton (Reuters, November 2, 1999)   "Recognizing the historical role of the [Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty] as the cornerstone for maintaining international peace and security and strategic stability, ... [The United Nations General Assembly] calls for renewed efforts by each of the States parties to preserve and strengthen the ABM Treaty through full and strict compliance and, in this context, reiterates that there shall be no deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems for a defence of the territory of its country and no provision of a base for such defence ..." --- From Draft Resolution A/C.1/54/L.1**, "Preservation of and compliance with the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty," offered by Belarus, China, and Russia, October 14, 1999. (The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution on December 1, 1999, with a vote of 80 to 4, with 68 abstentions. Albania, Israel, Micronesia, and the United States voted against it. The complete resolution may be found on the web at: http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/coalition/unabmres101499.htm.)   "We note that the resolution ... got the support of a wide range of states, including France, India, Mexico, Ireland, Indonesia, the Republic of South Africa and Egypt. In this connection we would like to emphasize again that ... the implementation of the ABM treaty ... affects the foundations of the security of virtually all countries." --- V. O. Rakhmanin, Director of the Information and Press Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, November 10, 1999, speaking of the UN resolution titled Preservation of and compliance with the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Unofficial translation.   "We are not rejecting the concept of missile defense completely, such as air defense to protect troops. But it is the advanced systems, in space and elsewhere, that are the problem. These are a violation of the ABM treaty. " "Any amendment, or abolishing of the treaty, will lead to disastrous consequences. This will bring a halt to nuclear disarmament now between the Russians and Americans, and in the future will halt multilateral disarmament as well." -- Sha Zukang, Chinese arms control negotiator (Washington Post, November 11, 1999)   "We must avoid any questioning of the ABM treaty that could lead to disruption of strategic equilibria and a new nuclear arms race." --French President Jacques Chirac, November 1999 (New York Times, December 3, 1999)   "There is no doubt that [US deployment of a national missile defense system] would lead to split security standards within the NATO alliance." --German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer (Washington Post, November 6, 1999)   "Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is probably Clinton's closest ally among world leaders, is said to harbor serious reservations about US plans for ballistic missile defense." -- Washington Post, November 6, 1999 Also available on this website: Nuclear Defense and Offense: An Analysis of US Policy