The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation May 22 1992 To the Deputy Head of the State Advisor for Conversion V L Katayev The RF MFA has carefully reviewed the draft Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine about Cooperation in the Development Serial Production and Operation of Missiles Missile Launchers and Space Vehicles It appears that this draft calls for a very cautious consideration Without a doubt we need to preserve the scientific and industrial cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in the sphere of missile and space technology However it should be limited to programs that are truly in Russia’s interest and ones that Russia is prepared to fully or partially fund It seems that the proposed agreement and especially the list of concrete projects attached does not fully correspond to Russia’s interests Specifically it provides for continued production of ICBMs with MIRV including the heavy class and the creation of new missiles of this type A number of the programs listed as far as we know were previously shut down and their renewal is hardly expedient The Pavlograd machine-building plant would be preserved in the program for industrial cooperation on ICBM “Universal ” even though in Russia already missing lines It should also be taken into account that if Russia’s Ministry of Defense placed an order for the continued production of ICBMs on Ukrainian territory as proposed in the draft Agreement it would require constant surveillance of the Pavlodar machine-building plant to be set up within the framework of the START Treaty Russia would probably have to bear the cost for this since the missiles would be manufactured at the request of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation It appears to be inexpedient to maintain the old order of testing missiles at Russia’s testing sites The former system of testing often led to unfinished missile systems being put into service Currently interested parties are reviewing the possibility of allocating testing sites in a separate block Within the framework of formulating a plan for purchases of arms and military equipment for 1992 and subsequent years it would be expedient to carefully consider the issue of truly necessary dimensions and directions of scientific-industrial cooperation with Ukraine From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive Dear Vitaly Leonidovich The Russian Space Agency for its part could outline specific parameters of cooperation with Ukraine in the field of peaceful space G Berdennikov Signed Source Vitaly Kataev Collection Box 13 folder 26 Hoover Institution Archive From the Nunn-Lugar collection of the National Security Archive Translated by Anna Melyakova for the National Security Archive