Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who is the Senate Foreign Relations Committee senior Republican
Photo: Dmitry Dukhanin
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Russia’s Tour of Rice Is the Last Chance to Agree
Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, who is the Senate Foreign Relations Committee senior Republican, called on the administration of U.S. President George Bush to pursue cooperation with Russia on missile defense, arms control and non-proliferation all differences of Washington and Moscow notwithstanding. The senator came up with that statement on the threshold of Moscow tours of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates for the so-called 2+2 talks with Russia’s counterparts.
“The visit provides the last, best opportunity to lay the foundation for bold initiatives," before U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin step down, Lugar said in a speech at the Brookings Institution think tank, Reuters reported.
Lugar said Moscow and Washington have “narrow window of opportunity” to make progress. The countries disagree on such topics as Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Europe missile defense, including stationing U.S. ten interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, and the Kosovo independence.
According to Lugar, the missile defense is “a major source of the current malaise in the relationship,” but Russian proposal held promise and close cooperation is the only possible scenario.
"Sharing information gathered by U.S. and NATO systems (with) Russia and possibly linking radar and early warning systems would be useful in ensuring transparency and reaffirming our cooperative approach," Lugar said as quoted by Reuters. According to the senator, Moscow and Washington should deliberate on creating jointly manned radar installations and exchanging early warning data.
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