21.   The United States has been stepping up its efforts to get the disarmament agreement extended indefinitely.

22.   This would give the UN-backed interim authority time to train and equip a national army and police force, and to negotiate disarmament agreements with the warlords.

23.   United States sees decision as regrettable, Russia calls it a severe blow to disarmament agreements.

24.   Kravchuk signed a disarmament agreement with US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin in January.

25.   Meanwhile the former warring parties signed a disarmament agreement severely limiting the number of heavy weapons they are allowed to own.

26.   Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said Tuesday that a US short-range missile defense system could slow progress on disarmament agreements and undermine the US-Russian partnership.