#33 - JRL 2007-257 - JRL Home
U.S. Drops 5 Proposals In Missile Talks With Russia -
Ministry
MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax) - A document the United States sent to Russia last
month as a follow-up to U.S.-Russian talks in October on American plans to
deploy missile defense elements in Eastern Europe omits five compromise
proposals Washington made at October's talks, Russia's Defense Ministry said on
Saturday.
The United States offered to make a number of concessions at the October 12
talks in Moscow between the U.S. secretaries of state and defense and the
Russian foreign and defense ministers, who were seeking a solution to an
American-Russian dispute over the U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements
in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russia insists that the planned missile shield would threaten its security.
One of the concessions the United States showed willingness to make at
October's talks but did not mention in the November 21 document, was that it not
activate interceptor missiles before there was authentic evidence of existence
of ballistic missiles threatening Europe, the Russian ministry said in a report
posted on its website.
Others were that American interceptors would not be placed in silos; that
they would be dismantled if a missile threat were eliminated; that the United
States would join forces with Russia in checking whether any missiles had been
launched in the Middle East or western Asia for missile launches; and that
Washington and Moscow would make joint decisions on how to react to threats of
attack.
November's document put forward new proposals, however, one of them being
that U.S. officers be stationed at Russian missile defense facilities, the
ministry said.
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