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Russia still open to dialogue on US missile plan: Gates
Munich, Germany (AFP) Feb 9, 2008 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday that Russia was still willing to discuss Washington's plans to set up an anti-missile shield in Europe despite its tough rhetoric. "We are continuing the dialogue with them," Gates told reporters after a meeting with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on the sidelines of an international security forum in Munich. "Obviously Minister Ivanov and I talked about it. I think that regardless of what's said in public there is still an interest in pursuing the dialogue," Gates said. "Each time we do this we have an opportunity to try and clarify what we've said and proposed," he added. The United States is currently negotiating with Warsaw and Prague on the possible installation of 10 interceptor missile sites in Poland by 2012 and associated radar stations in the Czech Republic. Washington says the shield is needed to ward off potential attacks by what it calls "rogue states", notably Iran. Russia strongly opposes the plans, considering them a grave threat to national security in its Cold War-era stamping ground, and has been ratcheting up its anti-shield rhetoric. On Friday, NATO defence ministers meeting in Lithuania demanded that Russia tone down its outbursts. In October, Gates and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Moscow to try to convince Russia that the shield plan is not directed against it. "I think there is a concern on the part of the Russians that what Secretary Rice and I put on the table in Moscow was diluted in the written version that went back to the Russians," said Gates. Both sides have pledged to meet again in coming months to try to tackle the issue. Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
NATO reviewing technical aspects of US missile shield: chief
Vilnius (AFP) Feb 8, 2008NATO is looking into how a planned US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic could relate to the alliance, on both technical and political levels, its secretary general said Friday. |
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