No mention of Y2K.....interesting ommision.

(for educational purposes only)

http://www.tampabayonline.net/news/news1002.htm

SINGAPORE (AP) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov announced today they are establishing a communications ``hot line'' to avoid future misunderstandings during times of crisis.

It will be in addition to the secure communications link that has connected the White House and the Kremlin since early in the Cold War era.

Both leaders, at a joint news conference, said sharp differences remain over NATO's air campaign in the Balkans but that relations between Moscow and Washington are on the mend.

``We both said to each other that the U.S.-Russia relationship was so important and so broad that it could not be damaged,'' Albright said.

The two met over dinner during a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders and their Asian and Pacific partners.

Yugoslavia is a historic ally of Russia and many Russians still resent the NATO bombing campaign.

Ivanov said the airstrikes, which Russia strongly opposed, hurt the relationship. ``That is why we should redouble our efforts now that we have turned the corner,'' he said.

Asked if Russia would like to see someone other than Slobodan Milosevic in power, Ivanov said the Yugoslav people didn't ``need any prompting from the outside. They're capable of making up their own mind.''

He said Russia wants a stable relationship with the United States - with no surprises.

The `hot line' between their private offices should help the two diplomats communicate quickly to avoid confusion and misunderstandings, both said.

At the conclusion of the conflict, for instance, the United States was caught off guard when Russian troops beat NATO forces into Kosovo, seizing control of the airport in the provincial capital of Pristina.

That led to a rocky period, with Russian and NATO sparring over the nature of the Russian peacekeeping component in Kosovo.

However, Albright suggested she was satisfied with the current role of the Russians and their level of participation.

``U.S. and Russian forces are serving side by side,'' she said.

Turning to arms control, Ivanov said members of Russian President Boris Yeltsin's government would redouble their efforts to try to persuade the Russian parliament to ratify the 1993 Start II treaty.

The treaty, already ratified by the U.S. Senate, would cut Russian and American nuclear stockpiles to a maximum of 3,000 warheads each.

The Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, was on the verge of taking it up in late 1998, but action was put off after the U.S. air campaigns against first Iraq and then Yugoslavia.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), July 26, 1999

Answers

Also no mention of Y2K (so pay no attention) in this article about sending a nuke expert over to India for a SIX-MONTH tour...in hopes of bringing India under nuclear nonproliferation accords>

U.S. Nuclear Adviser Sent to India

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), July 26, 1999.