Ukrainian President Says No to U.S. Missile Shield
Ukraine has never considered and will not consider the deployment of U.S. missile defenses on its territory, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told reporters on Thursday.
Ukraine has never considered and will not consider the deployment of U.S. missile defenses on its territory, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was quoted as saying on Thursday by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
The president was commenting on the Pentagon’s report that Ukraine is among the 15 countries that the U.S. views as potential partners in building its missile defense system.
“Today, 15 countries (including nine in NATO alone) are engaged in missile defense efforts of some kind, whether by hosting key facilities or assets on their territory or actively discussing this possibility, pursuing R&D programs, signing cooperative agreements with the U.S., or maintaining capabilities,†Brian R. Green, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategic capabilities, told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces.
He also said that in addition to the U.S., “the list includes Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the U.K.,†adding that Russia “clearly believes in the value of missile defense as it continues to maintain a missile defense system around its major population center, Moscow, and has developed defenses against shorter-range missiles.â€
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[…] The Ukrainian politician who is generally liked in Washington for his support of democratic government and market reform, Yushchenko made clear his government had no intention of assisting the US in a plan to build a net of anti-missile systems in selected East European countries. See also here. Comments » […]