#28 - JRL 2007-215 - JRL Home
Moscow seeks missile defense talks in Russia-NATO
council
MOSCOW, October 15 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday
it wants U.S. plans to deploy components of its global missile defense system in
Europe to be tabled for Russia-NATO Council discussions.
The statement comes following talks in Wiesbaden between the Russian and
German foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as part of
Russian-German consultations.
"The discussion of common European security issues in light of the planned
deployment of U.S. missile shield components in Poland and the Czech Republic
highlights the importance of the joint assessment of threats and challenges in
the Russia-NATO Council in order to prepare collective measures to neutralize
them without any damage to strategic stability," the Foreign Ministry said.
The United States announced in January plans to place missile interceptors in
Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic for defense from possible
strikes from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea.
Moscow remains unconvinced by U.S. arguments, and considers the plans a
threat to national stability as well as a destabilizing factor for Europe.
President Putin has proposed that the U.S. use the Gabala radar which Russia
leases in Azerbaijan instead.
The ministers also confirmed their commitment to overcoming a deadlock over
amending the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, which limits Russian and NATO
conventional forces and heavy weaponry in Europe.
President Vladimir Putin declared in July a moratorium on the CFE Treaty,
saying that no NATO countries have ratified the treaty's amended version. The
Russian moratorium is to come into force later this year if Western countries do
not ratify the document.
Moscow considers the original CFE Treaty, signed in 1990 by 30 countries to
reduce conventional military forces on the continent, to be outdated, saying it
does not reflect the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the breakup of the Soviet
Union, or recent NATO expansion.
"In this context, Russia has reaffirmed the importance of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe returning to its primary tasks regarding
common European security, underlined by the lack of alternatives to the
long-term reform of the organization," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministers also agreed that solutions to Iran's nuclear program, another
key issue under discussion, must be based on political and diplomatic collective
measures by six nations currently involved in talks with the Islamic Republic,
plus the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Security Council.
"As to Kosovo, efforts in the Russia-EU-U.S. format aimed at drafting a UN
Security Council model that would satisfy both Belgrade and Pristina have also
been supported," the document said.
The status of Serbia's predominately Albanian province of Kosovo is another
bone of contention between Russia and the West, which has supported the region's
drive for independence. Russia, a strong Serbian ally, has opposed an
independent status for the province, saying it would set a dangerous precedent.
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