Russian candidate assails US on shield

MOSCOW -- The man considered to be a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin criticized a landmark Soviet-US arms treaty yesterday as a "relic of the Cold War," and promised that Russia would have a "sword" capable of piercing a US missile shield.

First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov made the statements at a two-hour news conference during which he commented on issues ranging from global security to children's sports in what sounded like a presentation of his campaign platform.

Putin has not expressed support of any potential contender for the March 2008 election, and Ivanov has not declared whether he will run. However, he and another first deputy prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, are widely seen as leading candidates being groomed by the Kremlin.

Ivanov, a KGB veteran like Putin, criticized US plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying Russia doesn't trust Washington's claims that they are intended to fend off potential missile threats from Iran.

"It can't be accepted on serious expert level," he said. "A radar the US is planning to deploy in the Czech Republic will be capable of scanning air space up to the Ural Mountains."

Ivanov said Russia is not going to build a strategic missile defense system similar to that being developed by the United States, but will take "adequate steps" to respond to the US move.

"A more efficient sword can be found for every shield," he said.

Ivanov also criticized the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan. It eliminated an entire class of medium-range missiles that were then based in Europe.

Ivanov called the treaty "a relic, a rudiment of the Cold War," saying that dozens of nations have developed intermediate-range missiles since the pact was signed, and many of them are located close to Russia's borders. However, he didn't say Russia would opt out of the pact.