RUSSIA-U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE DISPUTE RESOLUTION UNLIKELY - PUTIN
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 20, 2012 - 10:35 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The missile defense dispute between Russia and the
United States will not be resolved regardless of whether President
Barack Obama will be re-elected in November, Russian President Vladimir
Putin said.
"The United States has been following the path of creating its own
missile defense for more than one year, and I do not see anything
that could change its approach," Putin told journalists following
the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Putin said the situation would change only if the United States
agreed to build the missile defense system jointly with Russia and
the European Union.
"This means all three participants would jointly be building that
system, and would be able to jointly assess threats, manage that
system and make decisions on its use," he said.
"But this does not mean we are unable to agree on some fragments of
that joint work. I think it is possible," Putin said, RIA Novosti
reported.
Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile
defense system at the Lisbon summit in November 2010. NATO insists
there should be two independent systems that exchange information,
while Russia favors a joint system with full-scale interoperability.
Russia has retained staunch opposition to the planned deployment of
U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be
a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield
would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran
and would not be directed at Russia.
Moscow insists it should receive legal guarantees from Washington
that its European missile defense shield will not target Russia's
strategic nuclear forces.
Russia's military and political leaders have repeatedly warned their
western partners that if talks fail, Moscow may take a series of
measures including deployment of Iskander short-range nuclear-capable
ballistic missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave.
From: A. Papazian
PanARMENIAN.Net
June 20, 2012 - 10:35 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - The missile defense dispute between Russia and the
United States will not be resolved regardless of whether President
Barack Obama will be re-elected in November, Russian President Vladimir
Putin said.
"The United States has been following the path of creating its own
missile defense for more than one year, and I do not see anything
that could change its approach," Putin told journalists following
the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Putin said the situation would change only if the United States
agreed to build the missile defense system jointly with Russia and
the European Union.
"This means all three participants would jointly be building that
system, and would be able to jointly assess threats, manage that
system and make decisions on its use," he said.
"But this does not mean we are unable to agree on some fragments of
that joint work. I think it is possible," Putin said, RIA Novosti
reported.
Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile
defense system at the Lisbon summit in November 2010. NATO insists
there should be two independent systems that exchange information,
while Russia favors a joint system with full-scale interoperability.
Russia has retained staunch opposition to the planned deployment of
U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be
a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield
would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran
and would not be directed at Russia.
Moscow insists it should receive legal guarantees from Washington
that its European missile defense shield will not target Russia's
strategic nuclear forces.
Russia's military and political leaders have repeatedly warned their
western partners that if talks fail, Moscow may take a series of
measures including deployment of Iskander short-range nuclear-capable
ballistic missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave.
From: A. Papazian