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NUKEWARS
US, Russia resume nuclear disarmament talks

Russia favours only joint missile defence: general
Russia is opposed to any form of missile defence proposed by the United States which excludes Russian involvement, the country's top general said on Monday. General Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the general staff of the Russian military, told reporters on a visit to Switzerland that only the creation of a joint missile defence system would be acceptable to Moscow. "We have a negative attitude to everything that concerns missile defence. Either you create missile defence jointly, or..." said Makarov, according to Russian news agencies, leaving his sentence incomplete. His comments came after the United States last week scrapped its plans for deploying missile defence facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland that had infuriated Russia. Russia had proposed using radar systems in Gabala in ex-Soviet Azerbaijan and in the southern Russian city of Armavir as part of a joint early warning missile defence system with the United States. Makarov said that while the possibility of US-Russian cooperation on missile defence existed, there were no concrete talks on a joint system. Following scrapping of the Eastern Europe missile shield, Russian officials said Moscow would shelve a plan to place Iskander missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad which borders the European Union. While not contradicting this, Makarov said no final decision had been taken on the issue. "The decision has not been taken. There has to be a political decision," he said.
by Staff Writers
 Geneva (AFP) Sept 21, 2009
 Russia and the United States began Monday a new round of negotiations on renewing a key nuclear arms reduction treaty, just days after Washington said it would drop missile shield plans in Europe.

"The negotiations have restarted just after 1100 local time (0900 GMT) in the Russian mission. This time, it would last longer than expected with the large delegations from each side," a Russian diplomat told AFP.

The six previous rounds of talks on the renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expires on December 5 had lasted a maximum three to four days.

The United States and Russia had agreed this year to seek the replacement or renewal of START, marking the first tangible step in the thaw in US-Russian relations heralded by the Obama administration.

START, signed in 1991 just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, bound both sides to deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals.

Negotiations have been dogged by bargaining over the deployment of the US missile defence shield in ex-Soviet states in eastern Europe, a project that has angered Russia.

But US President Barack Obama last week announced that he would shelve plans to site parts of a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, and instead deploy more mobile equipment targeting Iran's short and medium-range missiles.

The White House has denied it orchestrated a quid pro quo with Moscow by agreeing to halt work on the missile shield in a bid to win more cooperation on issues like Iran's nuclear programme.

Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are set to meet later this week when the Russian leader travels to New York to address the United Nations.

However, Medvedev's foreign policy advisor Sergei Prikhodko had said it would be unreasonable to expect a quick agreement on the START nuclear arms control treaty or any other deals when the presidents meet face to face.

"Contradictions remain," Prikhodko added.

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NUKEWARS
NATO chief calls for integrated US, Russian missile defences
 Brussels (AFP) Sept 18, 2009
 NATO reached out to Russia Friday in an effort to mend badly bruised ties, inviting Moscow to consider linking its missile system to those of the United States and the military alliance. In a landmark speech in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also encouraged Russia to undertake a joint review of the new security threats they face, as the basis of a new partnership ... read more






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