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U.S. Won’t Guarantee Non-Direction of Its Europe’s Anti-Missile Defense System at Russia
The United States has no intention to seal any binding documents with the Kremlin guaranteeing that its anti-missile defense system in Europe wouldn’t be directed at Russia, ITAR-TASS reported based on the talk of Pentagon chief Robert Gates with reporters in Seville.
Judging by the speech that Robert Gates delivered in Seville Friday, the Pentagon chief is quite satisfied with the recent meeting with Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov. They raised a raft of problems, Gates specified, ranging from Russia’s involvement in the NATO’s Active Endeavor operation in the Mediterranean region targeted at strengthening the non-proliferation regime to the prospects of Russia’s ratifying the treaty of the legal status of NATO forces and the forces of Partnership for Peace members on the soil of each other and to opposing the drug traffic in Afghanistan.
Gates also said they deliberated on deploying the U.S. missile defense sites in Europe, specifying he raised the issue himself.
Of interest is that when asked whether the Bush administration is ready to conclude a binding agreement with the Kremlin to guarantee the non-direction of its Europe-deployed anti-missile system at Russia, Gates made clear that this issue is out of his competence and specified that none of the parties has raised this topic actually.
www.kommersant.com
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