MOSCOW, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Russia on Friday slammed a U.S. decision to keep it on a list of states with a poor track record on the spread of weapons of mass destruction, as old disputes returned to haunt the allies in the war against terrorism.
Last week President George W. Bush allowed U.S. technology firms to sell high-speed computers to countries previously excluded by a Cold War-era ban designed to limit the spread of nuclear arms.
But Russia remained in the third of four categories, far below countries deemed "reliable" by the United States, the Foreign Ministry said.
"This draws attention to the preservation of the Cold War-era system of open
discrimination, dividing countries which import U.S. computer technology into different risk groups," the ministry said in a sharply-worded statement.
"We would like to hope that, in the light of the new strategic relationship announced by the president of the United States and the president of the Russian Federation, the American administration will reconsider this discriminatory decision."
Washington slapped a ban on high-speed computer exports in 1979, in a bid to
restrict advanced computing power that could allow countries such as Libya and Cuba to develop missile systems and other weapons of mass destruction.
Exports to Canada, Mexico and all of Western Europe do not face such restrictions.
Russia's sharp reaction came amid signs that the honeymoon period in the Russian-U.S. alliance forged following the September 11 airline attacks, was
under strain.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to telephone President Bush to offer his support after the hijacked airliner strikes on New York and Washington.
Initially, the support won Putin a second hearing on his two-year crackdown on rebels in Russia's secessionist Chechnya province. But as the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan winds down the issue has resurfaced, along with fears over media freedoms and disagreements over arms control.
WAR OF WORDS
On Thursday, the United States accused Russia of using "overwhelming force" in its battle to crush Chechen rebels.
"The latest information on Russian operations in Chechnya indicates a continuation of human rights violations and the use of force against civilian targets," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
Senior Kremlin aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky refused to comment on the statement, and some experts said Moscow could now come under renewed pressure from the West.
"If there does not appear that there is a serious attempt to provide a political solution, if it looks like there are still a lot of abuses by Russian troops, then this is going to be an enormous source of irritation," Robert Nurick of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Reuters.
Relations could be further complicated by a court decision to uphold a closure order against TV6, the only television network outside Kremlin control. On Wednesday Washington criticised the "flawed" law on which the closure order was based, and urged the authorities to defend media freedom.
Washington's plans to store, rather than destroy, warheads removed from nuclear missiles as part of a post-Cold War disarmament pact, have also left
Russian policymakers uneasy.
"This is not so important militarily as it is politically, because the Americans tried to weaken Putin's position," said the Institute of Eastern Studies expert Grigory Bondarevsky.
"This is not a disaster. This will not totally change our relation with the United States, but it makes cooperation slower, and much more difficult."
Nurick said despite the success of the military campaign in Afghanistan, Washington still needed Russia's help if it planned to retain a presence in Central Asia, an issue that could provoke Russian nationalists hostile to Putin's pro-West stance.