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Russia, US hopeful on solving missile row
Moscow (AFP) July 6, 2009 US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev expressed hope Monday the two sides could solve dispute on missile defence that has dogged attempts to revive relations. "I believe that over time we will have seen that the US and Russian positions can be reconciled," Obama said at a news conference after talks with Medvedev. Obama kept the door open for further discussion of Russia's concerns on the US plan to install missile defence facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland, to the visible pleasure of his Russian counterpart. "Only just a little while ago on this question we had a complete difference of opinion. Now this leaves open the possibility for us to move our positions closer to one another," Medvedev said. Medvedev highlighted as the main "step forward" an agreement by the United States for both discussions of defensive and offensive weapons to be included in disarmament negotiations. "I want to draw attention to the fact that in our joint agreement that was just signed, it talks of the linkage between offensive and defensive weapons. This is already a step forward," Medvedev said. A text of the joint US-Russia declaration posted on the Kremlin's website lists "the linkage between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons" as an issue that must be included in a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Moscow has repeatedly suggested that such a link would allow for its concerns over US missile shield plans to be folded into START, but whether the specific issue was on the table in arms reduction talks was not immediately clear. The US plans to install a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic remains a major bone of contention in relations as Russia says the plan is aimed against its territory. Washington maintains the shield is needed to protect against missile threats from rogue states such as North Korea and Iran. But Obama said it would be inappropriate to link talks on the missile defence dispute to negotiations on renewing a nuclear reduction treaty. "We have not thought that it is appropriate to link a missile defence system that is designed to deal with an entirely different threat, unrelated to the kinds of robust capabilities that Russia possesses." Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Japan mulls new missile defence system: reportTokyo (AFP) July 5, 2009 Japan is considering introducing a new type of missile defence system to counter airborne attacks, notably from North Korea, a local newspaper said Sunday. Japan has two types of defence against airborne attacks -- the warship-installed Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) and Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3), a surface-to-air missile that tracks and hits incoming targets. It plans to ... read more |
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