US mulls nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-28 06:35
While Russia remains committed to Bushehr, U.S. officials say work has slowed
and Moscow still has not delivered critical nuclear fuel for the reactor.
Robert Einhorn, a former top U.S. nonproliferation official, said a nuclear
agreement with Russia is a sound idea "but whether by itself it will constitute
a sufficient carrot for Russia to take a tougher position on Iran remains to be
seen."
The United States has as much to gain from an agreement as Russia, and Moscow
is unlikely to make major concessions just to get it, "but it does provide an
incentive for Russia to want to benefit from cooperation with the U.S.," said
Einhorn, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
A recent bi-partisan study by the Council on Foreign Relations concluded that
Russia is "the only power that can effectively threaten Iran with nuclear
isolation if it continues to build sensitive nuclear fuel-cycle facilities."
It urged Washington to negotiate a nuclear energy agreement, saying while "it
should not be necessary to buy Russia's support, successful cooperation does
have to rest on mutual confidence" and this can be strengthened by a stronger
legal framework for cooperation on nuclear issues.
The nuclear deal will allow expanded cooperation, including the
administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Initiative, and "will reflect
Russia's status as a major factor in nuclear commerce, from fuel supply and
storage to reactor sales and advanced research," the study said.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia have worked to
reduce nuclear weapons risks, including a highly successful program under which
Russia is blending down 500 tons of weapons-grade material so it can be used to
generate electricity rather than for weapons.
The United States, backed by Britain and France, favors limited sanctions if
Iran refuses to halt enrichment very soon. Russia and China, the Security
Council's other two veto-holding permanent members, have so far opposed this.
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