A view of laser missile defense facilities
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U.S., Russia Had Good Exchange on Missile Defense Issues, the U.S. Says
The recent U.S.-Russia discussions on missile defense could be viewed as the kick-off of a series of discussions on this issue, the U.S. Department of State Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said during the press briefing.
The discussions of the United States and Russia that were held in Washington Monday and Tuesday were the exert-level meetings agreed by President George W. Bush and President Vladimir Putin during their get-together in Kennebunkport. The U.S. delegation was represented by Assistant Secretary for International Security and Nonproliferation John Rood, Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman and other officials. The Russians were led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak.
According to Casey, both parties had a good preliminary exchange on problems in view of the proliferation threats from ballistic missiles and WMD, expressing their perspectives on the threats. The experts also deliberated on potential cooperation in the issues of missile defense.
The Russians provided additional details of proposal made by Vladimir Putin in early July and related to using the Qabala radar that Russia leases in Azerbaijan.
When it comes to the missile defense, the U.S. standing is that the threat is common, i.e. some rogue states with their potential ballistic missiles and potential nuclear armaments threaten not only the United States and Europe but also Russia and that today’s concern is to jointly find methods of appropriate response to the threat.
Russia, however, harbors doubts that the planned deployment of interceptors in Poland and a radar in Czechia would be so advantageous for it, viewing these plans as an unjustified provocation.
The discussions will continue, Casey said. “I think we are looking at holding another round at this kind of fairy senior working level in September, probably in Moscow.”
www.kommersant.com
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