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U.S. Willing to Construct More Radars
Washington will hardly drop plans to construct a radar station in the Czech Republic in exchange for using Qabala and Armavir radars jointly with Russia, RIA Novosti reported with reference to Lauren Goodrich, the analyst of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. (Stratfor).
Moreover, the United States is weighing chances to build new radars either in the Balkan states or in Turkey or in the Caucasus. And it will be the next hottest topic of discussion, Goodrich forecasted, specifying that the United States has a hole in the radar coverage in southern Europe.
The United States is very interested in getting access to Azerbaijan (the Qabala radar) and to southern Russia (Armavir radar) but not at the cost of dropping the Czech radar plans, the analyst explained. The Azeri radar and the radar in Armavir could be just an addition to missile defense components in Poland, Czechia, Britain and Greenland.
Russia’s south could be an alternative to southern Europe but it is another political topic for debates, Goodrich pointed out, reasoning that building radars in the Caucasus would be the least acceptable option due to the general instability in that region.
For the United States, Qabala is a good choice, the analyst told RIA Novosti. It is the best place is terms of strategy, including for the Mid East.
But the United States could reach a direct agreement on Qabala radar with Azerbaijan, irrespective of the current agreement of Moscow and Baku, the analyst speculated, pointing out, however, that the Armavir radar is much more up-to-date than the Qabala one.
Asked about the Armavir proposal of Russia, Pentagon spokesman Greg Hicks said that it is too early to comment on it and that no final agreements with Poland and Czechia on stationing missile defense components there have been attained so far. Even the dates of completing respective negotiations haven’t been determined yet, Hicks pointed out.
www.kommersant.com
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