Russia and USA Deadlocked on Missile Defense

The Russia - USA presidential meeting will take place on April 6th in the city of Sochi, on the Black Sea coast of Russia, after the NATO Summit and after George Bushâ€™s visit to Croatia. This story just keeps lingering on and on.
President Bush pointed out only one issue which he said he would discuss with Putin in April … the deployment of the US missile defense system in Europe.

George Bush declined to comment on what he thinks democracy will be like in Russia under Medvedev, Putin’s protÃ©gÃ© and hand-picked successor.

The United States and Russia have been deadlocked on missile defense in Europe for many months and we see no quick solution, with the US defense secretary saying the US has gone as far as it can to make Russia happy.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments came after Moscow rejected US concessions on its plans for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.
“I guess my view is I think we’ve leaned about as far forward as we can. We’ve offered a lot. And my view is, now I want to see some movement on their part,” Gates told reporters as he flew back from Europe today.

Robert Gates said the USA proposals “represent a very forward-leaning posture in terms of partnering with the Russians.”

“And I think the question is whether the Russians are serious about partnering with us, or whether this is merely a pose to try and stop us from going forward with the Czech Republic and Poland,” he said.

Earlier today Russian Defense Minister Viktor Serdyukov said the US proposals were not enough to satisfy the Russian concerns.

“All that has been proposed to us does not satisfy us, our position remains the same,” the ITAR-TASS and Interfax news agency quoted Serdyukov as saying at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Netherlands.

The tougher position by Gates came amid rising US tensions with Iran and a warning by President Bush on Wednesday that missile defenses were urgently needed to defend Europe.
“The need for missile defense in Europe is real, and I believe it is urgent,” Bush said, in a speech at the National Defense University that was interpreted as being at odds with Gates’ softer approach to the Russians.

During a visit to Moscow earlier this month, Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the Russians with ideas for a regional missile defense scheme that would include Russia as well as NATO.

They proposed posting Russian liaison officers at US missile defense sites as well as at the radar site in the Czech Republic if Prague agreed. The Czech leader said: “No comment” when asked if it would be okay to have Russian soldiers in the Czech Republic. There are old tensions between Russia and the Czech Republic.

Gates stated during a trip to Prague, the United States would delay making the European site fully operational until there was “definitive proof of the threat.”

He said Russian leaders have made clear that they recognize that Iran poses a security threat, but differ with Washington on how long it will take the Iranians to develop progressively longer range missiles. Russian thinks this time period is much longer than the the US does.

A US defense official, said the US had offered to tie the activation of the system to a agreed upon understanding with the Russians of what would constitute a proven and real Iranian threat.

“What we are saying is we’re prepared to sit down with Russia and discuss what we would both regard as indications of increasing capability” of Iran’s missiles, the official said.

Gates and US defense officials have said Russian President Vladimir Putin was intrigued enough by the proposals to agree to experts meetings and a follow-on round of talks at the level of defense and foreign ministers.

Russia is concerned about the possibility that the missile defense system could be used against Russia at some point in the future.

The United States, which is still negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic for access to their territory, insists that the planned missile defense system is no match for Russia’s nuclear arsenal and are aimed at a looming Iranian missile threat. This is a difficult concern for Russia to accept and agree to.

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Comments (1)

Comment by I’d rather have McCain in charge of this… « Mason Murch on February 21, 2008 5:43 pm

[…] President Bush understands the use of this kind of power. While the world watched the mechanics of “star wars” missile defense, the United States Defense Secretary was telling the Vodka swilling Russians to stick it in their collective ear. […]

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