BUCHAREST, November 7 (Itar-Tass) —— The United States have invited Russia to take part in flight tests for antimissiles to be deployed in Eastern Europe.
Missile Defence Agency, Lieutenant General Patrick J. O'Reilly, told Romanian Mediafax news agency on Monday, November 7, that Washington is interested to cooperate with Russia in the field of missile defence and is waiting for Moscow’s reply.
The Romanian government has approved a draft law allowing the deployment of U.S. missile defence elements in the country. The document has been sent to the parliament and will enter into force after ratification.
Russia opposes these plans as a threat to its own strategic nuclear forces.
Moscow insists on legally binding guarantees that the missile defence system being created by the United States and NATO in Europe won’t be aimed against it.
This issue was raised at the previous meeting between Ryabkov and Tauscher in St. Petersburg in the middle of August.
“The main attention was paid to the discussion of missile defence issues. The Russian side stressed the importance of ensuring legally binding guarantees that the missile defence system being created by the United States and NATO won’t be aimed against Russia’s strategic nuclear forces,” the ministry said.
Ryabkov and Tauscher also discussed “some other issues on the current international agenda in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and arms control”, the ministry said.
Tauscher said earlier that the United States was preparing for talks with Russia on further nuclear arms cuts, seeking to consolidate positive results achieved in this field
She recalled that two years ago in Prague U.S. President Barack Obama had declared America’s commitment to “to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there was no need for a legally binding agreement with Russia that would guarantee that their missile defence systems were not directed against each other.
Speaking after a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi in early July, Rasmussen said he was convinced that all 28 NATO member states would have signed a statement pledging not to use force against each other.
Rasmussen said he personally did not think there was a need for a legally binding agreement to this effect.
In his opinion, Russia and NATO need tactical cooperation instead.
“Russia says it wants guarantees. We can give these by agreeing that our systems will not undermine the strategic balance. That they will strengthen each others security - and not weaken it,” Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen expressed confidence that “the best guarantee for Russia is to be part of the process. And to be connected to the system. We should focus on actual cooperation, not abstract questions. This is the best way to enhance transparency and confidence. And it builds up the mutual trust that is necessary to take the key decisions we need to take”.
NATO and Russian Defence Ministers met in late June to discuss the next steps in our missile defence cooperation. “We all understand that the foundation for our cooperation must be confidence and trust,” Rasmussen said.
Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov confirmed after that meeting that there is trust between Russia and NATO on missile defence, but there are no results.
“NATO has so far not listened to Russia’s proposals on missile defence. NATO insists on building two independent systems,” he said.
According to Serdyukov, this may lead to a situation where “a missile defence system that may be created in Europe by 2020 will neutralise Russia’s strategic capabilities”.
In this case, Russia will have to “look for ways to overcome this system, which will lead to a new arms race”.
The minister believes that this is “the position of the U.S. in the first place”.
At the same time, he stressed that the dialogue will continue. “We have no other choice. Otherwise a return to an arms race will be inevitable,” Serdyukov said.
Rasmussen said there was no need for a legally binding agreement with Russia that would guarantee that their missile defence systems were not directed against each other.
Speaking after a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi in early July, Rasmussen said he was convinced that all 28 NATO member states would have signed a statement pledging not to use force against each other.
Rasmussen said he personally did not think there was a need for a legally binding agreement to this effect.
He said NATO is not ready to accept Russia’s proposals on sectoral missile defence in which Russia will ensure missile security of a part of NATO’s territory.
Rasmussen made it clear that NATO would not ensure is own security using external sources.
At the same time, he said that the dialogue with Russia is evolving naturally, each side has its own interests, and they need time to find a mutually acceptable solution.
Rasmussen said NATO posed no threat to Russia and was not considering it as a threat.