MOSCOW. March 19 (Interfax) - A compromise between Russia and the U.S. on missile defense issues is quite realistic, according to Viktor Kremenyuk, a deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' U.S. and Canada Studies Institute.

"This is absolutely realistic. The only problem, in my view, is that a strategy for resolving this issue has not yet been built. All other preconditions are in place, including both parties' mutual desire and understanding of the need to look for such a compromise," Kremenyuk told Interfax on Wednesday.

He called for setting up a joint Russian-U.S. headquarters for countering missile threats.

"The U.S. and ourselves do not have any body that could be responsible for formulating a policy for countering the threat of missile launches against Europe and Russia. Such a body should be set up. This could be a joint headquarters or a committee that would be invested with appropriate powers by both sides so that it could make instant decisions in crisis situations," he said.

However, "in order to set up such a body, different political relations are needed, and these should be relations of confidence and mutual obligations," Kremenyuk said.

"This is a serious issue, and we should resolve it jointly rather than bicker with the Americans. It is technically possible, as all conditions for this are in place except political ones," he said.

Commenting on the fact that the U.S. is not going to drop its plans to deploy missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic, while Russia views this as a threat, Kremenyuk said, "But why should they drop their plans? As for a threat to Russia, ask our generals how ten interceptor missiles (deployed in Poland) can threaten two thousand Russian missiles. I personally cannot understand this.