JCIC-XXVII: (U) RUSSIAN CLOSING PLENARY

1. (U) This is JCIC-XXVII-052.



2. (U) The text at paragraph 3 is the official translation
of the Russian statement that was delivered at the closing
plenary meeting of Part II of the Twenty-seventh Session of
the START Treaty's Joint Compliance and Inspection Commission
(JCIC), held at the Russian Mission on November 9, 2005.



3. (S) Begin text:

Official Translation

JCIC-XXVII

STATEMENT
by the Representative of the Russian Federation
at the Plenary Meeting
November 9, 2005

Esteemed Colleagues,

If we had to use one word to characterize the session of
our Commission that is concluding today, it would be
"businesslike." Indeed, most of the issues that we
considered both this time and during the first half of the
session early last summer are strictly practical in nature.
It is pleasant to note that we succeeded in resolving some of
these issues and laying a good foundation for resolving a
number of others, we hope, in the foreseeable future.

On the plus side there has been a positive step such as
the adoption of the JCIC Joint Statement on First Stages of
SS-25 ICBMs Burned without Nozzles Attached. We trust that
this will be followed by yet another necessary step--the
withdrawal of U.S. claims about the procedures for Russia's
elimination of ICBMs of this type at Votkinsk, procedures
that are strictly in accord with the Treaty requirements.

The Russian side made a significant contribution to
resolving issues of the same type related to reentry vehicle
inspections of U.S. Trident II SLBMs and Russian SS-25 ICBMs.
We submitted a serious new proposal aimed at removing the
well-known U.S. concern regarding SS-25 ICBMs. The
clarifications we provided during the special briefing
graphically illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed
demonstration. We are prepared to arrange the demonstration
in an expeditious manner. A positive response from the U.S.
side to this proposal would make it possible, on the basis of
reciprocity, to close out similar issues concerning reentry
vehicle inspections for both SS-25 ICBMs and Trident II
SLBMs. In order to expedite achievement of this goal the
Russian side makes the following Coordinated Statement
(attached text is read).

We believe that the Parties have made significant
progress toward resolving the problem of inspecting U.S.
SLBMs in liners and loading tubes, which has been on the
Commission's agenda for a long time. However, the work was
not completed. Nevertheless, we heard the U.S. side's
statement regarding its desire to do this during the break
between sessions. We hope that we will finally close out
this issue as well.

It is regrettable that for some reason less attention
was devoted to resolving problems that have for many years
made Treaty implementation more onerous. The Russian
delegation was prepared for such work.
In this connection, I would like to remind you of issues
which, we believe, are already close to resolution, such as
the procedure for elimination of U.S. Peacekeeper ICBMs and
the production of the Castor 120 missile stage in the U.S.
We note the statement the U.S. side made in this context at
the Plenary Meeting (sic) on November 7 of this year, that
the U.S. currently has no plans to eliminate its existing
Peacekeeper ICBMs. We believe that closing out these two
problems is entirely feasible. The Russian side has done a
great deal to achieve that. It is now up to the United
States to take reciprocal steps.

It is also regrettable that we were unable to consider
in greater detail the question of U.S. actions regarding the
five silo ICBM launchers at Vandenberg. In essence what we
have here is the creation of a serious new problem by the
United States in terms of Treaty compliance. After all, U.S.
actions at Vandenberg quite clearly do not fit in with the
fundamental requirements of the Treaty, specifically that
each ICBM launcher must be capable of launching only an ICBM
of the type specified for it in the Memorandum of
Understanding and that a space launch facility is a facility
from which objects are delivered into the upper atmosphere or
space using ICBMs and SLBMs. We are compelled to keep these
and several other issues on the Commission's agenda.

As before, the Russian side will be prepared to actively
utilize diplomatic channels to consider issues related to
Treaty implementation and urges the other Parties to do the
same.

In conclusion, allow me to thank all the participants in
this session for businesslike cooperation and a friendly
atmosphere at our meetings and during our interaction in
general. I wish everyone a good trip home.

End text.



4. (U) Taylor sends.
Moley