NATO chief: No summit with Russia without a deal on missile defence

Jan 26, 2012, 14:13 GMT

Brussels - There will be no summit with Russia in May if there is no deal by then on missile defence cooperation, NATO's chief said Thursday.

At a summit in Chicago on May 20-21, NATO plans to declare 'interim operational capability' - putting into action the first component of its missile defence system.

The alliance insists that the project is not targeted at Russia - the United States says it is being developed as a shield against Iranian nuclear plans - but Moscow is unconvinced, and wants legal guarantees that NATO in turn is reluctant to commit to.

'We have not made much progress so far,' NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen admitted in Brussels.

'We still keep it as an option to have a NATO-Russia summit in Chicago, but if there is no deal (on missile defence cooperation) there will probably be no summit,' Rasmussen added.

NATO leaders' interlocutor in Chicago would likely be Russia's current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, if - as expected - he wins presidential elections in March.

Rasmussen also said that while declaring interim capability on missile defence 'will be a significant step,' it will take 'eight-10 years' for the system to be fully in place.

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