No Quit Date on ABM Pact: Bush

President Bush said Thursday that Washington will withdraw from the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Moscow “at a time convenient to America” so the United States can proceed unhampered with the research and development of a missile defense system.

Bush’s declaration seems likely to increase tensions with Russia and surely enhances his growing reputation as the practitioner of a unilateralist foreign policy.

Yet the president also quickly added that he has no deadline in mind for withdrawing from the treaty and said he intends to continue consulting on the matter with European allies and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. The two leaders already have met twice and are set to meet again during an economic summit in October in Shanghai. Putin also is scheduled to visit Bush’s ranch near here in mid-November.

“We don’t have a date” for withdrawing from the treaty, Bush said during a question-and-answer period with reporters here Thursday morning.

“I have no specific timetable in mind. I do know that the ABM Treaty hampers us from doing what we need to do. And, secondly, I do know that Mr. Putin is aware of our desires to move beyond the ABM Treaty, and we will.”

Bush’s comments capped several confusing days as to whether recent talks between top U.S. and Russian officials involved a U.S. ultimatum.

In Moscow on Wednesday, Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton denied news reports that the Bush administration had issued an ultimatum to Russia stating when the U.S. would withdraw from the ABM Treaty, widely considered the cornerstone of arms control. Bolton nevertheless reiterated at a news conference that the U.S. will pull out of the treaty “sooner rather than later” if no agreement is reached with Russia.

In advocating a U.S. withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, the president explained anew Thursday his rationale, saying that the pact “hampers our ability to keep the peace, to develop defensive weapons necessary to defend America against the true threats of the 21st century.”

Although he did not specify the threats Thursday, Bush has previously described them as “rogue nations” and terrorists.

It was unclear whether Bush’s remarks here were intended to exert pressure on Putin over the issue. His comments on the treaty were brief.

The missile defense system that Bush envisions would violate terms of the treaty, which includes a provision allowing either side to withdraw from it with six months’ notice.

U.S. and Russian officials have been searching in intensive talks for a way around the impasse but remain far apart.

The matter is certain to come up again today when Bush appears at a morning news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to announce the president’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to discuss military affairs.