The Russian government did nothing to avert the collapse of the treaty

SMI web site

The decision was a major diplomatic failure for Russia, according to some sources.

"The US withdrawal from the ABM treaty points to a serious failure of Russian foreign policy," the Russian web site SMI.ru said.

"The Russian Government did nothing to avert the collapse of the treaty," it added.

The Grani.ru web site accused the Russian Government of intransigence for having refused to negotiate a compromise agreement or ask for appropriate compensation.

Whenever there was an opportunity to discuss a compromise, "Russia reverted to type in claiming that ABM was a 'cornerstone of strategic stability'," the website said.

The US will be able to develop its national missile defence system virtually uncontrolled

Gazeta

Russia's business daily Kommersant, on the other hand, noted Moscow's calm response to the US decision, suggesting that Russia was hoping its low-key reaction might still pay off.

"The reluctance to spoil relations with the United States is not the only explanation of Moscow's calm reaction. It looks as though Russia is still hoping to receive compensation for remaining calm."

Arms treaties threatened

Fears have been voiced that the unilateral US pull-out from ABM has set a bad precedent, threatening to wreck other international arms treaties.

"What the Russian military fears most is that the withdrawal from the ABM treaty will destroy the entire existing system of arms control treaties," the Moscow daily Gazeta said.

"The inspection regime will come to an end and the United States will be able to develop its national missile defence system virtually uncontrolled," the paper said.

The US decision is a significant blow to strategic stability in the world

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

But some officials looked on the bright side of the US move, arguing it may well be to Russia's advantage in the long run.

Mikhail Margelov, the head of the upper house foreign affairs committee, said Russia would benefit from the US pullout, Gazeta reported.

Russia would now be free to decide its own numbers of nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles, he said.

The prominent daily Izvestiya noted with some satisfaction that both Russia and the US were now free from obligations set out in the START II treaty.

Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy head of the Duma international affairs committee, told Gazeta: "We should immediately tell the Americans that when the six-month deadline expires Russia will withdraw from the START II treaty."

Arms race possible

Many Russian reports noted that the US decision might spark an arms race.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta said the US decision was a "significant blow to strategic stability in the world, which will lead to a change in the military-political situation."

It quoted Anatoliy Kvashnin, the chief of general staff, as saying the US decision "will untie the hands of a number of states, leading to a new round of the arms race".

Strana.ru quoted Duma official Vladimir Volkov as saying: "We should expect Beijing's appropriate response to be an increase in the number of its nuclear warheads."

This in turn would force India and Pakistan to build up their own nuclear potential.

"On the whole, it will result in a new arms race and a decline in the level of security," Mr Volkov said.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.