WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Monday froze a much vaunted US-Russian civilian nuclear pact in protest at Moscow's military moves in Georgia.
The first casualty in recently touted cooperation among the former Cold War foes, the US-Russian deal to establish joint ventures and share peaceful nuclear technology has been pulled from consideration for now.
In formally notifying the Congress of his decision, Bush wrote that the Russian government had taken actions that are "incompatible with peaceful relations with its sovereign and democratic neighbor Georgia."
Russian troops poured into Georgia last month to repel an attack by the Georgian army aimed at retaking South Ossetia. They have remained deep inside Georgian territory in what Moscow calls "security zones."
Both Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was the first to announce the decision, said the pact could be resubmitted to Congress if circumstances change.
"We make this decision with regret," Rice said in a statement read by her spokesman Sean McCormack. "Unfortunately, given the current environment, the time is not right for this agreement."
On a visit to Moscow in March, Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates hailed what they called growing areas of cooperation with Russia, including in the nuclear area, despite tension over US actions in former Soviet territory.
Now, Russian moves in Georgia are seen by analysts as a response to the US drive to bring the pro-US government in Tbilisi into NATO and to build a US missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, former Soviet satellites.
Russia reacted with ambivalence to Bush's decision.
"Such a step is regrettable" and is "out of keeping with bilateral relations," according to a Russian foreign affairs ministry official quoted by Interfax.
However, "Russia does not need civilian nuclear cooperation with the United States more than (Washington)," said the official who asked to remain anonymous.
During the daily press briefing in Washington, McCormack said the US embassy in Moscow notified the Russian government of the impending decision last week.
McCormack said Bush decided to freeze the nuclear deal because of "deep concerns over Russian behavior," though he did not deny its actions in Georgia played a role.
The agreement aimed to allow US and Russian companies to form joint ventures in the nuclear sector and gives the go-ahead for exchanges of nuclear technology between the two countries, according to officials on both sides.
Under the deal, Russia would also be able to reprocess spent nuclear fuel originating in the United States, which accounts for most of the world market, in a move that has raised fears of Russia being turned into a nuclear dump.
When the deal was signed in May, McCormack said the deal would prove a boost to the US nuclear industry and would strengthen US-Russian efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear technology to shadowy militant groups.
Representative John Dingell, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, welcomed the deal's postponement not just because of Russia's incursion into Georgia, according to a statement from his office.
"Russian support for Iranian nuclear and missile programs alone is enough to call into question the wisdom of committing to a 30-year agreement to transfer sensitive nuclear technologies and materials to Russia," he said.
Dingell pledged continued oversight of the issue.
