Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty signed in 1972 between Washington and Moscow is "a relic of the past," US President Mr George W. Bush said today during his visit to Madrid.
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Mr Bush - facing a stiff test on European trip
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The statement was Mr Bush's starkest dismissal to date of the international agreement that has curbed the proliferation of American and Russian nuclear arsenals.
The US leader made the comment in a joint media conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mr Jose Maria Aznar, during which he again tried to talk up his plans for a missile defence shield against countries Washington considers "rogue states".
Such a missile shield would "make the world more peaceful, not more dangerous," Mr Bush said.
"The problem with the ABM treaty is that it prevents a full exploration of possibilities. We're bound by a treaty signed in 1972 that prohibits the United States from investigating all possibilities as to how to intercept missiles," he said.
Bush said the ability to intercept missiles as they launched is technology that must be explored fully to ensure the US has the defensive capabilities necessary to prevent ‘blackmail'.
The US president's enthusiasm to tear up the ABM treaty and create the missile shield has met fierce opposition from Moscow, which fears a resumption of the nuclear arms race.
Mr Bush has tried to allay those worries by offering to extend that shield to protect US allies and possibly even Russia, but many countries - notably in Europe - remain unconvinced.
Meanwhile the EU today expressed its regret that Mr Bush has failed to back the Kyoto treaty and rejects the president's own plans to fight global warming.
Before leaving Washington for Spain Mr Bush set out his own plan to research technological solutions to slow greenhouse emissions. He maintains that Kyoto is "fatally flawed".
But his announcement has been met with growing scepticism by EU officials who fear he could scuttle the entire 1997 Kyoto agreement.
Environment Minister Mr Kjell Larsson, of Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, said: "Abandoning the Kyoto Protocol would mean postponing international action to combat climate change for years - and we are already late. We cannot accept this."
EU Environment Commissioner Ms Margot Wallstroem called on Mr Bush to "move on from analysing the issues towards action," adding there was more than enough scientific evidence to back global warming and its detrimental effect. She added that the EU remains committed to ratifying Kyoto.
AFP & PA