DATE=5/13/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=BUSH/RUSSIA/ARMS (L-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-289734

BYLINE= PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE= WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

///EDS: Updates 2-289728 with information from background briefing on the agreement.///

INTRO: The United States and Russia have reached an agreement to slash their strategic nuclear arsenals by two-thirds over 10 years. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports a signing ceremony will take place on May 24th, during President Bush's trip to Russia.

TEXT: Both sides indicated last year that they want to cut their nuclear arsenals. Now, a formal agreement is at hand.

President Bush says it is the start of an era of enhanced mutual security.

/// BUSH ACT ///

This treaty will liquidate the legacy of the Cold War. When I sign the treaty with President Putin in Russia, we will begin the new era.

/// END ACT ///

He spoke shortly after U-S and Russian arms negotiators completed their work in Moscow. In the Russian capital, President Vladimir Putin made an almost simultaneous announcement.

/// PUTIN ACT IN RUSSIAN, ESTABLISH AND FADE ///

Mr. Putin said he was pleased with the results of the negotiations.

White House officials say they represent a "win" for both countries. They say the Russians got the formal treaty they wanted, while the United States retained some flexibility in the ways it takes warheads out of service.

A senior Bush administration official says, under the deal, the United States will dismantle some of its warheads and put the rest in storage. He says Russia, which originally called for destroying all the weapons, would likely follow a similar approach, and put some warheads on standby.

The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, estimated that each side currently has between five- and six-thousand operational strategic warheads. He said, under the deal, that number will drop to between 17-hundred and 22-hundred.

Presidents Bush and Putin agreed to the nuclear reduction targets in principle last year. At first, Mr. Bush raised doubts about the need for a formal treaty, saying years of negotiations would delay cuts both sides were willing to impose anyway.

The president relented when it became clear negotiations could be concluded in months, not years. In all, they took about five or six months, and produced a lean, concise document that, according to the White House, runs just three pages. That is unusually brief for a nuclear arms deal.

/// OPT /// The agreement focuses solely on offensive nuclear arms reductions, and does not touch the dispute over President Bush's plans to build a missile defense shield. It will go into effect as soon as it is ratified by the U-S Senate and the Russian Duma. /// END OPT ///

But in truth, the nuclear arms reductions are already underway, or at least in the planning stages. When asked why a treaty is necessary when the United States is willing to move ahead unilaterally, the senior administration official stressed that it provides guarantees that the process will continue, no matter who is in charge in Washington and Moscow. (signed)

NEB/PW/TW