Russia Still Hesitant to Join PSI After Bolton Trip

Russia remains hesitant to join to the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, a multinational effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday (see GSN, Jan. 29).

Last week, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton traveled to Moscow, in part to persuade Russia to join the effort. Russia is still hesitant, though, because the plan “raised more questions than answers,” a Russian defense official was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying.

“The American side has not given a clear explanation to the reasonable question … about how such actions are in accordance with international law — in particular, the right to freedom of movement,” the Russian official said (Alex Rodriguez, Chicago Tribune, Jan. 31).

Bolton said Friday that Russia might still cooperate with PSI efforts, even if it does not fully join the initiative.

“The issue they are deciding now is exactly what the extent of their participation in the effort would be because I don’t doubt that there are a number of areas where cooperation would be possible whether they became full participants or not,” he said (Judith Ingram, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Jan. 30).

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