A demonstrator gestures during a protest rally at Venceslas Square in Prague May 26, 2007. The rally was held to protest against plans to deploy a U.S. missile defense radar system in the Czech Republic.
Photo: Reuters
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Moscow to Host 3rd Round of Missile Defense Talks
The third round of talks on missile defense is set to take place in Moscow early October. The event will be attended by chiefs of foreign and defense ministries of the countries, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood after the second round of negotiations held in Paris.
Despite all anger and proposals of the Kremlin, the United States is sticking to stationing components of anti-missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, attributing it to the threat posed by Iran. Moscow, however, doesn’t view the U.S. arguments justified but takes deployment of interceptors and a radar station near Russia’s borders as a real threat to national security.
In time of the second round of talks, Rood said without giving particular details, they deliberated on the cooperation and made a step to the final solution. Speaking about some definite results would be premature, pointed out Russia’s negotiators that are led by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak in Paris.
The negotiators of Russia and the United States will proceed with discussion today, but focus on the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE Treaty).
The first round of missile defense negotiations was held in Washington July 30 to 31. At that get-together, Russia submitted to the United States written proposals that specify the initiatives of President Putin, including the joint use of the Russian-leased Qabala radar station in Azerbaijan and an early warning system in Armavir.
According to Rood, the United States doesn’t cross out the chance of using Azerbaijan’s radar but it could be just an additional component of some joint anti-missile system with Russia.
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