Parliamentary briefings
Summary
Behind the smiles and handshakes in Crawford, Texas, at the summit between Presidents Bush and Putin, a much mooted amendment to the ABM treaty failed to materialise. This leaves the U.S. administration with a major problem. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld has indicated that missile tests involving the AEGIS radar system, now scheduled for February 2002 risk breaking the 1972 agreement as does proposed construction work at Fort Greely, Alaska, in the spring/ summer of next year. Many in the Russian administration, and elsewhere, continue to see the ABM treaty as the "cornerstone" of the existing arms control regime.
