Russian Duma blocks START-2, backs Belarus union

By Timothy Heritage

MOSCOW, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Russia's lower house of parliament refused on Monday to ratify a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States and approved a planned union with Belarus which Washington has criticised.

Russian forces also pressed on with their military campaign in Chechnya, which has strained relations with the United States and the West. Reporters heard heavy shelling south of Grozny and a Russian envoy predicted the capital would fall in 10 days.

The managing council in Russia's Communist-led State Duma, the lower house, turned down a government request to debate and ratify the START-2 nuclear arms reduction pact, signed nearly seven years ago and already approved by the U.S. Senate.

"We think the issue is not ready and should not be considered today," said Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the opposition Communist Party which opposed the treaty.

Although Prime Minister Vladimir Putin could appeal to deputies to reconsider, the chances of the treaty being approved before an election to the Duma on Sunday are minimal and the new chamber is not expected to meet until January.

Vladimir Lukin, a former ambassador to Washington who heads the Duma's foreign affairs committee, suggested Russia had lost some of the moral high ground gained over Washington's plans to develop an anti-missile shield which violates another accord.

"The Duma Communists have done everything to make Russia share the blame with the United States for disrupting the nuclear disarmament process," he said.

The 1993 START-2 accord, signed by presidents Boris Yeltsin and George Bush in January 1993, allows for reductions of their countries' deployed nuclear warheads by up to two-thirds from about 6,000 each to no more than 3,500 each by the year 2007.

BELARUS UNION TREATY A STEP CLOSER TO APPROVAL

The Duma also ratified a controversial merger treaty with ex-Soviet neighbour Belarus by a large majority.

The document still has to win the approval of parliament's upper chamber, the Federation Council, and then requires President Boris Yeltsin's signature.

Its allows for joint institutions, harmonisation of legislation and eventually a common currency. But the two countries will preserve their separate political systems.

The United States has said it favours integration between European countries in principle. But it says there is no "democratic process" in Belarus and no way to conclude that the merger would reflect the will of the Belarussian people.

The Duma's decisions will do nothing to improve Russian-U.S. relations, which have worsened in recent months. Yeltsin responded to President Bill Clinton's criticism of the Chechnya campaign last week by reminding him Russia had nuclear weapons.

Reporters in Chechnya said Russian forces trying to oust separatist fighters pounded areas around the Argun River gorge in the mountains to the south of Grozny.

Chechen fighters conceded the loss of Khankala military airport on the eastern outskirts of Grozny but a Chechen representative later said rebel forces had retaken it. The Russian Defence Ministry could not confirm or deny the report.

Russia's top civilian envoy to Chechnya, Nikolai Koshman, said he expected Russian forces to take control of Grozny "in a week, 10 days at the most." But Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev reiterated that the Russian military would not storm the city.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 13, 1999