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Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005

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  "You know full well that terrorists of all hues and stripes" have sought to obtain them, he said.

Ivanov, speaking through an interpreter, said "an agreement on the exchange of information" on portable air-defense weapons would be signed by the two countries "pretty soon."

He said the agreement was put together quickly "because it was in the best interests of both states to maximally constrain" the movement of such weapons, such as the American-made Stinger shoulder-fired missiles the CIA supplied to Afghan rebels fighting Soviet forces in the 1980s.

Ivanov said "negligible amounts" of Russian-made air defense weapons also were in Afghanistan, and they are included in the inventories of many central and eastern European countries.

Rumsfeld did not comment on the deal and other U.S. officials did not immediately have any information.

Later, after a meeting with President Bush at the White House, Ivanov told reporters he and Rumsfeld had briefly filled the president in on the "understanding between the governments of the two countries to control the movements" of such weapons.

Typically, these relatively cheap weapons are small, rocket-propelled warheads with heat-seeking sensors. They are designed to be triggered from a tube-like, disposable launcher and to follow the heat of a jet engine's exhaust to its source. The CIA-backed rebels in Afghanistan used Stingers to great effect against Russian helicopters and other low-flying aircraft during the 1980s.

Ivanov also said he had accepted a U.S. invitation for Russian forces to participate in a U.S.-based military exercise to "handle nuclear safety issues while transporting nuclear munitions." He did not elaborate.

Later, the Pentagon issued a brief statement saying the United States will host six Russian observers at a nuclear weapons convoy security exercise this spring. It gave no details.

Ivanov said his session with Bush laid the groundwork for a meeting between the U.S. president and Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Feb. 24 in the Slovak Republic while Bush is traveling through Europe. Ivanov and Bush talked about hotspots such as Iran and Afghanistan; the joint commitment to fight terrorism; their desire to reduce the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and bilateral military exercises, he said.

The two did not discuss the political situation in Russia's neighbor, Ukraine, but Ivanov did not rule it out as a topic of discussion when he returns to the White House on Wednesday to meet with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Rice has been nominated to be the next secretary of state. Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press

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