DATE=MARCH 13, 2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-287527

TITLE=BUSH RUSSIA (S ONLY)

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush says he hopes to sign a disarmament agreement with Russia when he visits the country in May. VOA's Scott Stearns reports, the two nations are negotiating a deal to replace the 1972 Anti-Ballistic missile treaty.

TEXT: President Bush says the Cold War treaty is outdated and prevents the United States from developing technology to guard against missile attack. He is negotiating a new arrangement that has both sides reducing nuclear warheads to about two-thousand a piece. Mr. Bush says that deal might be ready to sign when he visits Russia in May.

/// BUSH ACT ///

I would like to sign a document in Russia when I am there. I think it would be a good thing.

/// END ACT ///

Disagreements remain over whether weapons taken out of commission should be stored or destroyed. Mr. Bush says he is willing to discuss that issue along with the need for verification.

/// SECOND BUSH ACT ///

I think the most important thing, though, is verification, is to make sure that whatever decision is made that there is open verification so as to develop a level of trust.

/// END ACT ///

Russian defense chief Serge Ivanov is in Washington for talks on the missile deal. He met with President Bush Tuesday. (SIGNED)

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