Tweet
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/12/europe/E U-Azerbaijan-Russia-Radar.php
Russia says it wants to keep radar in Azerbaijan
The Associated Press
Published: March 12, 2009
BAKU, Azerbaijan: Russia wants to extend its lease of a Soviet-built
military radar in Azerbaijan after a current lease agreement ends, the
Russian foreign minister said Thursday.
Sergey Lavrov said on a trip to Azerbaijan that Russia would like to
continue using the early-warning radar in Gabala after the lease
expires in 2012.
He said Russia's proposal to the U.S. to jointly use the facility to
monitor missile threats remains on the table. Moscow cast the 2007
proposal as an alternative to the U.S. plans to locate missile defense
sites in Eastern Europe, a plan Russia has fiercely opposed.
The administration of former president George W. Bush said the Gabala
facility was too old to defending against a threat from Iran -
Washington's main argument for building the European system. U.S.
officials said that, even if they were to use the Russian radar, it
would not replace the planned U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and
the Czech Republic.
The missile defense dispute strained Russia-U.S. ties, and Barack
Obama's election raised Moscow's hopes that he would scrap the shield.
Obama has not said how he intends to proceed, but he has stressed the
system must be cost-effective and proven, and that it should not
divert resources from other national security priorities. He also said
he has told Russia that curbing Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons
would lessen the need for a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern
Europe.
The Gabala facility was built to track U.S. bombers and
submarine-launched missiles from the Indian Ocean to the south. Some
analysts say the radar has poor resolution data and will be near the
end of its useful life when the current lease ends.
Lavrov's Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov, said Thursday
that the extension of the lease agreement isn't on the agenda yet.
Russia says it wants to keep radar in Azerbaijan
The Associated Press
Published: March 12, 2009
BAKU, Azerbaijan: Russia wants to extend its lease of a Soviet-built
military radar in Azerbaijan after a current lease agreement ends, the
Russian foreign minister said Thursday.
Sergey Lavrov said on a trip to Azerbaijan that Russia would like to
continue using the early-warning radar in Gabala after the lease
expires in 2012.
He said Russia's proposal to the U.S. to jointly use the facility to
monitor missile threats remains on the table. Moscow cast the 2007
proposal as an alternative to the U.S. plans to locate missile defense
sites in Eastern Europe, a plan Russia has fiercely opposed.
The administration of former president George W. Bush said the Gabala
facility was too old to defending against a threat from Iran -
Washington's main argument for building the European system. U.S.
officials said that, even if they were to use the Russian radar, it
would not replace the planned U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and
the Czech Republic.
The missile defense dispute strained Russia-U.S. ties, and Barack
Obama's election raised Moscow's hopes that he would scrap the shield.
Obama has not said how he intends to proceed, but he has stressed the
system must be cost-effective and proven, and that it should not
divert resources from other national security priorities. He also said
he has told Russia that curbing Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons
would lessen the need for a U.S. missile defense system in Eastern
Europe.
The Gabala facility was built to track U.S. bombers and
submarine-launched missiles from the Indian Ocean to the south. Some
analysts say the radar has poor resolution data and will be near the
end of its useful life when the current lease ends.
Lavrov's Azerbaijani counterpart, Elmar Mammadyarov, said Thursday
that the extension of the lease agreement isn't on the agenda yet.