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The ABM Deadlock Petrov Version Part One

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov

US, Russia hold follow-up missile defense talks in Washington
US and Russian officials will hold talks in Washington on Wednesday in a new bid to bridge gaps over US plans to deploy parts of a missile shield in eastern Europe, US officials said. The talks led by US arms control expert John Rood and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Kislyak will follow up high-level US-Russian talks in Moscow last week, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Russia opposes US plans to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of an anti-missile system which Washington says is aimed at protecting against "rogue" states such as Iran and North Korea.

But, in a first sign of progress in tough talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last Thursday that Washington gave Moscow guarantees that its proposed anti-missile shield "will be not directed" at Russia. The meeting in Washington is to "address security issues including missile defense, following up on the 2-plus-2 meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Moscow last week," a State Department statement said. "I'm sure that transparency is going to be one of the big issues that they focus on," McCormack added. "Anything that is mutually agreeable with us and the Russians of course has to be agreeable to the host governments."

Lavrov said the United States had proposed giving Russia the possibility of monitoring, both with inspectors and equipment, "the function of the radar station" in the Czech Republic and "the actual condition of the base of interceptor missiles" in Poland. "At this stage, we have succeeded in getting the Americans to admit that our concerns are not without foundation," Lavrov said in an interview published on the website of the daily Izvestia last Thursday. The Russian side has seen the shield as a direct threat to its security, especially with a radar installation that could survey parts of Russia's territory.

by Nikita Petrov
Moscow (UPI) Mar 25, 2008
Russia and the United States have completed talks on U.S. plans to deploy a third positioning anti-ballistic missile region in Europe.

The talks were held in the two-plus-two format with the participation of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and their Russian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Anatoly Serdyukov.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov summed up the discussion, which lasted for many hours: "Russia and the United States have not yet come to terms on missile defense but are going to continue the dialog."

Russian Defense Minister Serdyukov added that "the sides have not changed their principled positions, although we heard once again what we have to work on."

Serdyukov used the word "heard" for a reason. At the fall meeting in the same format, the U.S. participants made a number of proposals to their Russian partners that could remove some of their concerns about the deployment of the ground-based mid-course interceptor missile shield against intercontinental ballistic missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic.

But these proposals were conspicuously absent from a subsequent official letter from the U.S. government that explained the U.S. position. When asked this time how this could have happened, Rice replied with a charming smile that some things always get lost in translation.

This regularly happens with the missile defense problem. At the last news conference in Moscow, the American partners promised to send their proposals in writing to the Russian side by the end of the day. But they appeared in the Russian Foreign Ministry only by the end of the following day.

The proposals will certainly be thoroughly analyzed. But on his way to Moscow, in the in-flight interview, Gates told journalists that no new proposals would be made to Russia. All proposals have already been made, and the ball was in Russia's court.

However, unofficial sources report that in order to alleviate Russia's misgivings, Washington has offered to position high-frequency radar in the Czech Republic in a way that would prevent it from watching Russian territory, and not to put interceptor missiles into silos in Poland until it becomes abundantly clear that Iran has ballistic missiles capable of destroying targets on the territory of U.S. European allies.

Moreover, the U.S. partners promised to allow Russian officers to visit their military bases if the governments of the host countries agree to this. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has already said that he will allow such visits on the basis of reciprocity, provided Russia gives Czech officers access to similar radars on its territory, but did not specify what he meant by "similar."

Next: Why Russia is skeptical about the new U.S. proposals

(Nikita Petrov is a military commentator for RIA Novosti. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)

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The ABM Deadlock Melamedov Version Part One
Moscow (UPI) Mar 24, 2008
There was no breakthrough on Washington's controversial missile defense plans at the recent two-day Russian-U.S. talks in Moscow in the two-plus-two format of foreign and defense ministers.







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