MOSCOW, November 1 (Itar-Tass) —— Moscow may give a military-technical answer if the United States and NATO continue to ignore the Russian position on missile defense, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
“I have to state with regret that the signing of the agreement of Washington and Bucharest on the deployment of interceptor missiles – components of the U.S. global missile defense network – in Romania is just one link in a chain of events of the past two months,” he told the Serbian newspaper Vecernje Novosti.
“These [events] confirm the wish of the United States to accelerate the fulfillment of its missile defense plans in disregard of the lawful concerns of Russia.” The minister recalled that the United States had reached similar agreements with Turkey, Poland and Spain. “It seems this list will be longer,” Lavrov said. All that happens against the backdrop of an impasse in Moscow’s dialog with Washington and Brussels on matters essential for Russia, such as legal guarantees that missile defense would not be targeted against the Russian deterrence forces, he said.
“Russia is ready to continue the missile defense dialog with the United States and NATO,” Lavrov said. “However, if our partners continue to ignore our position, we will have to ensure national security interests with other methods. Practical military-technical measures may be taken in response. Frankly, we would like to avoid such developments.”