UNITED NATIONS — The United States is defending its record in reducing its nuclear arsenal against criticism that the world's nuclear powers aren't doing enough to rid the world of the deadly weapons.
In a speech Monday to a conference reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pledged U.S. commitment to disarmament and rejected suggestions that the United States was "turning its back on arms control."
The treaty, which went into force in 1970 and has been signed by 187 countries, committed the nuclear nations to pursue disarmament while the non-nuclear states agreed not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons.
"We share the frustration many feel about the pace of progress toward a world free of nuclear weapons," Albright said. "But we also know that if countries demand unrealistic and premature measures, they will harm the NPT and set back everyone's cause."
Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the four-week conference by warning that another cornerstone of arms control — the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty — was being jeopardized by suggestions that a limited missile defense system be allowed.
The United States wants to amend the ABM treaty to build a limited missile-defense system against possible attacks from "rogue states." President Clinton is expected to make a decision this summer.
Russia has vehemently opposed the plan, which it says would make its own forces ineffective and trigger a new arms race.
Annan, however, voiced the Russian concerns on Monday by warning that a missile defense system could trigger an arms race and create incentives for missile proliferation.
"It is my hope that all states will take great care to weigh these dangers and challenges before embarking on a process which may well reduce, rather than enhance, global security," Annan said.
Albright defended amending the ABM treaty to protect the United States against the handful of missiles that could be launched by countries such as North Korea or Iran.
"The treaty has been amended before, and there is no good reason it cannot be amended again to reflect new threats from third countries," she said.
Clinton is expected to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin at a June summit in Moscow to cooperate in changing the ABM treaty. Many conservative Republicans in Congress would go further by scrapping the pact and proceeding with a spaced-based weapons program.
At the conference's opening session, a new coalition of seven countries — backed by another 50 nations — issued a united position on pressing forward with nuclear disarmament, particularly among the nuclear powers.
The coalition, which includes Mexico, South Africa, Ireland, Sweden, Egypt, New Zealand and Brazil, proposed that nuclear states pledge not to use nuclear weapons first.
It also asked them to speed up removal of warheads from missile launchers, end deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons and expand nuclear-free zones.
Foreign Minister Rosario Green of Mexico acknowledged the process of nuclear weapons elimination would take time. But she said nations have a responsibility to do interim measures "to lessen the prospect of the unleashing of nuclear weapons whether by design or accident before they are eliminated."