Clinton-Putin Summit Yields 2 Defense Pacts

President Clinton and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin failed Sunday to narrow their wide differences over missile defense, agreeing on the threat and disagreeing on the solution. But in a long day of summitry, they announced a pair of pacts taking the two nations yet further from the Cold War.

And within their comments at a Kremlin news conference and in a statement they issued may lie the seeds of future agreement: the idea that Russian-sought cuts in long-range missiles and warheads can be linked with the building of a defensive system under consideration by the United States to provide protection against missiles launched by “rogue” nations or terrorists.

During the summit, the two presidents announced that each nation will dispose of 34 metric tons (more than 37 U.S.-measure tons) of weapons-grade plutonium, a quantity of the fissile material sufficient to make thousands of nuclear warheads. They also signed an agreement establishing a military center in Moscow at which U.S. and Russian officers will share early-warning data about missile and space launches to avoid misconstruing indications of attacks and triggering nuclear war.

Clinton’s 30-hour visit to Moscow ends this morning with a speech to the Russian parliament--the first by a U.S. president--concerning areas of cooperation between the United States and Russia and the challenges Russia faces.

The visit has had an edge that had been missing in recent encounters between the two nations’ leaders. This feeling reflects the American government’s unfamiliarity with Putin, inaugurated four weeks ago, and the evolving sense that the two countries once again are on the verge of significant disagreements, the largest concerning missile defense.

Clinton said he will decide, possibly by the end of summer, whether to proceed with the missile shield system. Critics say it would destabilize the nuclear balance by reducing Russia’s ability to strike the United States. The deterrent value of each nation’s arsenal has been a central element of the nuclear balance.

The issue threatens to erupt as a factor in the U.S. presidential election. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican nominee, has called for an antimissile program far more robust than that under consideration by Clinton.

Statements issued after the presidents’ meeting gave some observers hope that the issues of limiting offensive weapons and constructing a defensive shield might be compatible.

Putin and Clinton said they agreed that, in the words of their joint declaration, “the international community faces a dangerous and growing threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.”

And, the informal statement said, the two leaders agreed that the issues of strategic offensive and defensive arms could not be considered in isolation from one another.

But the tart-sounding Putin said of the Russian position, “We’re against having a cure which is worse than the disease.”

Presenting the joint declaration as evidence of an effort “to bring our positions closer together,” Clinton said: “I do not believe the decision before me is a threat to strategic stability and mutual deterrence. The Russian side disagrees.”

Meetings Characterized by a Certain Unease

In both spoken words and body language, the meetings evoked none of the ease--and spontaneity--of past Clinton encounters with Boris N. Yeltsin, Russia’s president until his abrupt resignation on New Year’s Eve. All told, Clinton spent about 10 hours over two days at the Kremlin, nearly all of that with Putin.

Clinton offered a lighthearted moment when he introduced Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Putin. The secretary was wearing three pins on the left side of her yellow suit jacket. Clinton said they represented “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,” and added, “That’s Madeleine’s entire foreign policy.”

But the laughter that wisecrack elicited from the Russian leader was rare. The more common expression on Putin’s face appeared to be something between a smirk and a pout.

And while Clinton made critical comments during the news conference, Putin drummed with the fingers of his right hand on the top of the credenza-like desk where the two men sat, flanked by the Stars and Stripes and the white, blue and red Russian tricolor.

The news conference was held in the gilded St. George’s Hall of the Kremlin, a room half the size of a football field and lighted by six chandeliers each the size of a compact car.

“We expressed our differences with clarity and candor,” Clinton said.

Putin, offering no change from his opaque demeanor but speaking warmly, said: “For me, President Clinton is a person who is a very comfortable and pleasant partner in negotiations.

“If everyone behaves the way President Clinton has behaved--not trying to find dead ends and problems but to seek ways of moving ahead--I think, between us in the future, our relations really will be successful.”

At the same time, as the bells above the Kremlin tolled 7 p.m., he looked ahead to the end of Clinton’s term.

The Russians, he said, are familiar with the proposals of Bush and Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. In a touch of candor perhaps unwelcome to Clinton, he added, “No matter who gets to be president, we’re willing to go forward on either one of these approaches.”

In a rare positive nod to the current White House, the Bush campaign praised Clinton’s efforts. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said the meeting set “a tone of respect between the United States and Russia that will endure when President Clinton is gone.”

Bush, who monitored the summit while spending the weekend with his family at their ranch outside Austin, Texas, has proposed building an antiballistic missile system capable of protecting the U.S. from attack by “rogue” nations or accidental launches. He has also called for deep cuts in the nation’s strategic nuclear arsenal.

Because of Gore’s delicate position as part of the Clinton administration, his campaign had no comment concerning the summit; however, Gore’s spokesman did take the opportunity to criticize Bush’s policy.

“Bush’s proposals could start a new arms race, according to experts,” Gore spokesman Douglas Hattaway said.

The two agreements completed during the summit were the most tangible sign of forward movement. Clinton and Yeltsin agreed in September 1998 on the goal of disposing of the plutonium and finding a way to reduce the risk that one side or the other would launch missiles in response to misread signals.

But administration officials who helped negotiate the early-warning pact acknowledged that neither side would be obligated--even though the officers would be sitting side by side at computer terminals--to share data about launches from third countries that did not appear to be targeted at either Russia or the United States.

Clinton and Yeltsin had set a goal of disposing of 50 metric tons of nuclear material each, but the United States found that its surplus was only 34 metric tons.

The pact follows earlier agreements that remove plutonium from the actual warheads. U.S. officials said they could not say what percentage of the two nations’ total supplies of weapons-grade plutonium is represented by the 34 metric tons.

The concern is not just for the misuse of the plutonium in each country or that it could be reinstalled in the weapons.

“This raw weapon material will now never fall into the wrong hands,” Clinton said, referring to the risk that the plutonium could end up in a weapon made by terrorists, North Korea, Iran or Iraq.

The United States will use 25.5 metric tons of the plutonium to fuel nuclear reactors, and will chemically “immobilize” 8.5 tons before burying it in as-yet-unselected locations. The Russians would use all of their supply to fuel power plants.

The goal, and it is only a goal, is for the United States and Russia to speed up work toward construction of industrial-scale facilities to convert the plutonium into fuel for power plants as early as 2007, the White House said.

Both Sides Will Seek Funding for Russia

Officials estimated that the Russian program would cost $1.7 billion over 20 years, and the U.S. program, involving permanent disposal, would cost $4 billion over the same span.

To help meet the Russian costs, the two sides agreed to seek help from international organizations and to raise the matter at the meeting of the Group of 8--the major industrial democracies and Russia--at its meeting in Okinawa, Japan, next month.

Before riding in his armored Cadillac limousine through Moscow’s streets, quiet on the sunny Sunday, Clinton toured the reconstructed Church of Christ the Savior.

The church is a powerful symbol of the return of religion to Russian public life since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Built in the 19th century to honor Russia’s victory over Napoleon, the church was razed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1933 to clear ground for a grandiose government building that was never built. The lot eventually was used for an outdoor swimming pool before the mayor of Moscow decided to rebuild the church. It is scheduled to be consecrated this summer.

Clinton signed the guest book, pausing to ask, “What is it? The fourth or fifth?”

His travels through the city drew little attention. But at one point he passed a group of Greenpeace protesters holding a yellow banner pegged to the name given the antimissile defense program envisaged by then-President Reagan: “Star Wars starts wars.”

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Times staff writer Elizabeth Shogren in Washington contributed to this report.

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