US Features
Missile defence dispute with Russia can be resolved: US
By Mike McCarthy Apr 28, 2007, 1:17 GMT
Washington - The United States believes the rift with Russia over plans to install a US missile defence system in Eastern Europe can be smoothed over, the US State Department said Friday, despite a threat by Russian President Vladimir Putin to suspend an arms control treaty on the continent.
Putin, during a meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus, warned that the missile defence would increase of the likelihood of a conflict and said he is considering a moratorium on a treaty aimed at limiting the size of conventional forces in Europe.
The United States is in negotiations with the Czech Republic and Poland to deploy a missile defence system on their soil that would include a radar site in the first country and 10 interceptor missiles in the latter.
Russia has strongly objected to the plans, saying it will offset the strategic missile deterrent on the continent. US officials argue the system is too limited to affect Russia's missile capability and is aimed at countering Iran's growing ballistic missile threat.
'It's hard for anyone to understand, when you look at the facts, what it is about 10 interceptors that is perceived as a threat to (Russia's) multiple-thousand-missile-and-warhead deterrent,' US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said.
The US plan was the focus of talks on Thursday among NATO foreign ministers at a meeting in Oslo. NATO has determined that the system does not threaten Russia. But that, along with a visit by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to Moscow this week and other high-level contacts between US and Kremlin officials, has not softened Russia's stance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sharply criticized the plans at the NATO meeting and accused the transatlantic alliance of seeking out new enemies, a move that is 'not particularly healthy.' Casey said the United States will continue to work to bridge difference with Russia.
'Certainly we understand that there is a difference between us on the question of missile defence,' Casey said. 'I think that that is ultimately an issue that is quite resolvable without any major problems or conflicts.'
The United States has offered to include Russia in the plans and share the technology, but Moscow has rebuffed the attempts aimed at deflating the tension over the plans.
The Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency hope to deploy a limited system by 2011 and the complete 10 interceptors by 2013 if negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic can be quickly concluded.
Putin said he could freeze the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty because some NATO members have not ratified an updated 1999 version, and further justified the move by tying it to the missile defence plans.
Putin's threat drew sharp criticism from NATO and EU officials. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Putin's remarks were met with 'grave concerns, disappointment and regret.' The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, told reporters in New York that that Putin has sent a 'disappointing signal' about the type of relations Western Europe wants to have with Russia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia at the NATO conference to stick to its commitments under the CFE and other treaties.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
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At what point in time will the EU decide to consider other options other than what the US puts forth, It may be beneficial to ask Mr. Putin if he may have an alternative to American missiles in his back yard. Possible he could supply this deterrent to the supposed missiles coming out of Iran and Korea, as we know they have interceptor missiles, could it be that Russia is in a better position to defend EU and the USA from these attacks from Iran and Korea. Or is the United States ( Mr. Bush )duplicitous as always and has an agenda that he has not yet announced. One that could be detrimental to the world, such as the war in Iraq.
D.Ryan wrote: 'Or is the United States ( Mr. Bush )duplicitous as always and has an agenda that he has not yet announced'
Duplicitous? Riiiiight ... Now that the US has gotten rid of Saddam, they've been gorging themselves on all that free oil (OK, not free ... let's all shout the tired refrain: 'blood for oil'). Now, the US must be equally underhanded about wanting to protect Europe from 7th Century Islam. It's very simple, according to W (at least on that point you must concede) ... he wants to protect the US (and by extension the West) from another 11 Sept Attack or worse. Is that so bad? Get a clue Mick!
blues4allah
You are a nob.
Europe neither needs or wants your protection.
Infact we want protection from the us.
and hopefully we will get it from russia a european country.
Europe should combine to keep the Yanks out - wherever they put their grubby, oil stealing feet they cause conflict
PS By 'Europe' I mean the EU plus Russia which is likely to be a far more stable partner than america
Do you guys still forget that it is because of the USA that we are not all speaking German right now?
Do you really think that Russia has less than 10 nucular missiles?
When i go out to the city for a night out i see people fighting over nothing
its human instinct to fight and kill and as a result of this it is likley that
one day the mad muslim state will one day drop a bomb on our heads and i hope you are still alive after the event because life wont be so easy then.
Its time to realise that bush and his administration is not out to harm us
they want to help FFS they even want to share this technology with the russians so come on Putin get a clue and stop flexing your out of date militry
that make porn videos instead of train for combat.
No wonder Russia want to pull out of joint defence agreements......
Its not about the amount of sites or defence missiles. Its about the simple basic fact that the bases are too close to russia their radar range goes far to deep into russian airspace.
These radar stations once installed are able to do more than just tracking incoming missiles, they can be used to spy a gigantic part of russian airspace.
That the russians believe this goes too far is absolutely understandable , especially when you consider that the threat is just theoretical and its unlikely that it will become reality within the next 20 years or ever at all.
My guess is that it is not about spying in russian airspace .THere are enough stalites for that ,no need to add a radar site to it .I believe NATO and the neocons are trying to instigate a new cold war with Russia to justify an obolete but costly organization (NATO) and cater for the needs of Bush principal sponsors:the miltary industrial complex .The alibi that the missile system is meant to counter an iranian menace is to be taken with laughter .JUst get out your atlas and have a look,the idea that this anti-missile missiles protect anybody at all from their future locations is preposterous .THe whole idea that Iran or Korea would evntualy launch a nuclear strike on Europe is even more ridiculous .THat would be equal to an immediate suicide for those nations as their power is ridiculous compared to the nuclear capability of Europe of the USA .No nation in the world has ever commited suicide .Again I must refer to the real needs to deploy this so called defence system :the justification for NAZTO's existence and the feeding of the usual weapon merchants .So sorry if the end of the cold war did not end also the gigantic waisting of industrial resources and energy on weapon systems suddenly becoming obolete .BUt hey, we can still insuflate new oxigen in the smoldering remains of the cold war and get the cash register working again.LOckheed thanks you for your contribution;and so does Raytheon,etc,etc.
Any person who is in any way supportive of Russia has obviously got dick for brains; Russians are a set of cowardly drunken scum.
I am a US Veteran and I would like to see what the EU would do if the US pulled out of NATO and closed all its bases there. As a veteran and I can speak for many of us, we are tired of listening to the spineless EU. I guaranty if the US pulled out of EU and the EU is attacked, guess who they are going to blame? The USA because we did not fight their war. Then come crying to us to please help them (again).Maybe a nice little invasion from Russia will wake the EU up or an attack from Iran. Apeasement makes the EU weak, looks like history will repeat it's self once again. I say leave the EU and let them figure it out. Have A Nice Day!!! :-)
I assume 'veteran' in this case refers to your outdated and outmoded beliefs based on years of brain washing by the american belief that they are the only people in the world who do 'right' and have God (another outmoded concept) on their side
Pershing_II SALT_II untill SS27/[See:Nato-HQ for my more comprehensive files.]/:
In the year 2002 the present Treaty was only formally contested by the U.S. ; Rice and Bush never belonged to the inaugurated with the last American
nuclear tests in New Mexico to which I was invited in the first half of the 90ies and 1995/96 in Albuquerque Kirtland AFB[ Note:Subject-matter_SALT II-parts of the contract are unpublished].The export and installation of an U.S.-American system for the defense of rockets in Poland is not conformal with the following article of the contract
' Article IX
To assure the viability and effectiveness of this Treaty, each Party undertakes not to transfer to other States, and not to deploy outside its national territory, ABM systems or their components limited by this Treaty'(TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS ON THE LIMITATION OF ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE SYSTEMS www_state_gov 2. This Treaty shall be registered pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.
DONE at Moscow on May 26, 1972, in two copies, each in the English and Russian languages, both texts being equally authentic.
FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
RICHARD NIXON
President of the United States of America).
FOR THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS:
L. I. BREZHNEV
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU).
Notice the timing of this? Russia sells nuke tech to the ragheads and Bush, magically, has ABM's show up at their door!
All the tinfoil hat talk aside, whats that tell you?
Chess or Poker?
Yo, little Johnny, I bet you have not left your back yard since you where born and have NO clue what is really going on ya mullet 'ie mullet as in bait fish as in fool'. As for brainwashed, gee how much TV did you watch today? You are the one that is brainwashed and I bet you would wet your pants if you ever had to face death daily. Worse than all things I smell a coward, a looooooser, a disgusting spoiled brat. You make me ill.
I agree with the veteran above. The Russians have been much better allies to the EU than the Americans for the past 50 years. Let the EU get their gas and their security from Russia.
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anthony woodroffeApr 28th, 2007 - 02:48:41
is he mad. Or is the devil in him. His words are just pushing the world and billions of people to a bitter end. He is just evil or on serious s... Can we just take him or something. My money is jesus any way. I hope the usa understands the seriousness of what is happening here. If i had the power my missiles would be on it's way to his house right now. We don't play that. He is an a... Or a stupid animal.
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