ISTANBUL, NOV 17: Western leaders and Russia are set to sign a landmark European arms accord at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Istanbul starting Thursday, despite a fierce showdown over Moscow's onslaught in Chechnya, diplomats say. US President Clinton, who arrived here on Tuesday, will raise the Chechen issue directly with Russian President Boris Yeltsin at the two-day summit, officials confirmed.But it appears unlikely to derail signature of an updated version of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, said diplomats gathered in Turkey's economic capital.
"Delegates are confident that it will be signed" on Friday morning, before the climax of the summit, a diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity late Tuesday.
The summit aims to trumpet two key accords: The revised CFE treaty and a new European security charter to concretise the continent's post-cold war security arrangements. The new CFE accord will cut by an average 10 per centceilings established by the 1990 accord .
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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