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Putin, Jiang restate opposition to US missile shield
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin met Saturday and restated their opposition to a proposed US missile defence shield, a Russian official said.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin met Saturday and restated their opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defence shield, a Russian official said.
Talking alongside the 21-member APEC summit, Putin and Jiang "reaffirmed their
adherence to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty," which bars the type of
shield the US wants to deploy, said Putin's spokesman, Alexei Gromov.
"Both sides confirmed that the ABM Treaty is a cornerstone of the strategic
stability," Gromov told reporters.
The opposition to the U.S. missile defense plan has cemented what Russia and
China often describe as their "strategic partnership," which replaced the Cold
War rivalry they had until the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Bureau Report