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Telephone for Mr. Putin
// Russian and US Presidents Mull Over a Joint Missile Defense
On Wednesday evening Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George Bush spoke by telephone about America's plan to install elements of its missile defense system in Eastern Europe. During the conversation, which was initiated by Washington, Mr. Bush for the first time replied to the unease about the expansion of the US system in Europe that was expressed by Mr. Putin during his speech last month in Munich. The US is keen to dispel the cloud in its relations with Moscow and to calm its European allies in NATO by proposing a joint missile defense system with Russia. Washington believes that an expanded system in Europe is crucial to defending the world against Iranian rockets.
George Bush called Vladimir Putin at a moment when tensions around the planned expansion of the American missile defense system into Poland and the Czech Republic were reaching a breaking point. The latest manifestation of the growing displeasure felt by Moscow that was first on display in President Putin's speech in Munich was a foreign policy report unveiled this week by the Russian Foreign Ministry. "The appearance of European anti-missile bases [for the US system] would mean a significant reconfiguration of the American military presence in Europe and would lend a strategic component to the American armed forces in the region that could negatively impact the curbs on the Russian Federation's nuclear potential," warned the Russian Foreign Ministry in its report, which was sent to President Putin on Tuesday.
America's European allies, who are finding themselves squeezed between a rock and a hard place, clearly have their own grounds for concern and have recently increased their calls for Washington and Moscow to immediately begin talking to each other about the proposed missile defense system. The Europeans fear that the expansion of the American system in Poland and the Czech Republic could provoke Russia to resume production of mid-range rockets and aim them at the European continent.
After a protracted pause, President Bush eventually decided to step into the breach to personally explain the missile defense issue to President Putin. The Kremlin's press service reported after the telephone conversation between the two presidents on Wednesday evening that "in the exchange of opinions, Vladimir Putin laid out the motivations behind Russian concern about America's plan to create a missile defense base in Central Europe." The report says that "the US president expressed readiness to discuss the subject in detail" and that Washington's position was "received with satisfaction" by the Russian side.
Comments from senior American officials in the wake of the discussion between the two presidents have made it clear that George Bush's phone call to Vladimir Putin marked the beginning of an active campaign by the White House to come to an agreement with Russia and thus to remove the main obstacle on America's path to realizing its plan to install elements of its missile defense system in Europe. Cooperation between the US and Russia on a missile defense system was the main topic of a recent press briefing in Washington by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried and US Missile Defense Agency head General Henry Obering. "We look forward to discussions with our Russian friends about missile defense issues…to ease their concerns," said Mr. Fried. At the same time, he made it clear that Washington does not intend to rethink its plans to deploy ten interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic, but he emphasized that the point of these moves is not to change the strategic balance between the US and Russia but to eliminate the threat of a missile strike from Iran. In Mr. Fried's opinion, "Russia faces the same threats" as the US and Europe.
General Obering focused on the kind of cooperation on missile defense that could be established between Moscow and Washington. According to General Obering, the US is "very open to Russian participation and invitation into collaboration on missile defense in the broader sense and on any level" and is ready to enter into a discussion of concrete aspects of collaboration. In particular, he said, the US and Russia could exchange radar data about rocket launches, which "could be very useful to the defense of Russia, obviously, and the European theater."
Significantly, soon after the press briefing in Washington Daniel Fried made yet another statement, this time on the Russian television channel "Vesti 24," in which he empathically called on Moscow not to dramatize the situation around US plans for a missile defense system in Europe. The American diplomat also criticized the idea of Russia producing medium-range rockets and placing them on military alert in response to America's plans. "That does not seem to me to be a very good response. The modest missile defense system that the US is currently developing does not pose a threat to Russia," said Mr. Fried, noting that the system will involve "ten small rockets unequipped with warheads" and weighing only 75 kg each. "It seems to me that it would be not entirely correct of Russia to reply to a nonexistent threat by creating a missile system that itself will be a threat," he said somewhat testily.
Washington apparently now sees the creation of a joint missile defense system as the lone way out of an increasingly sticky situation. "It would be much better if Russia and the US began to work together in the NATO-Russia Council to create a common missile defense system that could protect against common threats," said Mr. Fried. The threats to which he is referring, of course, are "Iran and other countries that could irresponsibly develop ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads to put on them."
Following President Bush's phone call to Vladimir Putin and the subsequent commentary from American officials offering concrete proposals to Moscow on the issue of a missile defense system, the ball is now in Russia's court. Moscow has previously been claiming bewilderment at America's plan to forge ahead without taking Russia's opinion into account. Now that the US is offering a partnership to Russia for the creation of a common missile defense system, however, Moscow can no longer accuse the US of attempting to upset the strategic balance in its own favor by acting unilaterally. Thus, if Moscow wishes to continue to obstruct America's plans to build a missile defense system in Europe, it will have to come up with some new arguments.
The two sides are expected to clarify their positions in April at the next session of the NATO-Russia Council. Yesterday Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hinted at the Russian position, noting that Moscow is counting on a broader consultation involving America's European allies. "This subject is so important for all Europeans that it is necessary to hold an appropriate consultation in a broader format. I anticipate that this will be agreed upon next month, when the topic of missile defense is scheduled to be discussed at the NATO-Russia Council," said Mr. Lavrov after talks with the Portuguese foreign minister.
Sergei Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 30, 2007
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