WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The United States will pursue an agreement with Russia that will allow Washington to proceed with a missile defense plan without departing from the ABM treaty, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a Washington Post published on Saturday.
``We need an understanding, an agreement, a treaty, something with the Russians that allows us to move forward with our missile defense programs,'' Powell told the newspaper.
``Sometime in the not-too-distant future we're going to need relief,'' he added, referring to the administration's desire to test and build missile defenses without violating the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
``I would like to see, and I think the president would like to see, an arrangement with the Russians, with President Putin, that deals with strategic offensive systems, strategic defensive systems, limited defensive systems, nonproliferation activities, and frankly, transparency activities and sharing activities,'' Powell told the Post.
Testing and building a missile defense system would violate the ABM treaty, which Moscow views as the cornerstone of strategic arms control. But Russian leaders have said recently they would consider amending the pact.
``Wouldn't it be better if we did it together and documented it some way that is not necessarily a treaty?'' Powell told the Post. ``My view is, let's not foreclose any means of getting to this end.''
The Bush administration this week outlined plans to begin building a new missile defense test site in Alaska next month.
Powell was due to meet Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Rome next week for talks due to focus on missile defense. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin were scheduled to meet at the Group of Eight summit in Genoa on July 20-22.
European diplomats said they were not told of the Alaskan test site plans and it seemed this could complicate U.S. consultations with the allies at both meetings in Italy.
Some European allies have expressed concern that the Bush administration's missile defense plans could fuel a new arms race.
On a another subject in the wide-ranging Post interview, Powell said awarding the 2008 Olympics to Beijing ``provides an opportunity for China ... to move in the direction that will create a positive environment where people will go and see ... more openness in China, more willingness to tolerate dissent.''
Commenting on the continuing violence in the Middle East, the Post said Powell repeated the U.S. call for a period of calm to be followed by a return to peace negotiations. He also took Israel to task for demolishing Palestinian homes.
``We have been speaking now to both sides, getting the violence down and avoiding the provocations,'' Powell said.
``When you start knocking down buildings with bulldozers, don't expect people not to respond to this kind of activity. When you start announcing more settlement activity, this does not create conditions that would cause the other side to be less responsive or less violent,'' he added.
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