America did its homework
For Personal Use Only
The U.S. Department of State presented to Russia its missile shield proposals in writing
Russia on Thursday received written proposals from the United States on its missile shield in Europe, something that Moscow had been waiting for since mid-October. Washington agreed to concede and allow the Russian military to monitor missile facilities in Eastern Europe and postpone the start of the operation of a missile base in Poland. But Russia is not likely to agree to this plan anyway. The Kremlin is still determined to get the United States to give up the idea of deploying any anti-aircraft bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.
“We have received written proposals from U.S. counterparts on the deployment of the anti-aircraft missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The proposals were sent to Moscow, and the Foreign Ministry has started examining them,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Krivtsov told Kommersant. Moscow had been expecting the proposals since the meeting of Russian and U.S. foreign and defense policy chiefs in mid-October. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Pentagon chief Robert Gates tried to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in his residence in Novo-Ogarevo and their counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Anatoly Serdyukov for Russia not only agree to the deployment of anti-aircraft facilities in Eastern Europe but also take an active part in it.
Washington’s new proposals come down to a united anti-aircraft system to protect the United States, Russia and NATO members. America suggests uniting its future missile shield in Eastern Europe, the NATO’s future anti-aircraft defense system (to be outlined at a summit in Bucharest in April 2008) and Russian missile forces in Gabala in Azerbaijan and outside Armavir, south Russia.
It is essentially an effort to combine the Pentagon and its NATO partners’ initial plan with Vladimir Putin’s suggestions that he voiced at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June and during a meeting with George Bush in Kennenbunkport in July.
The United States is also ready to postpone the start of the operation of anti-aircraft facilities in Eastern Europe, primarily a base of ten interceptor missiles in Poland, before it has clear evidence that Iran poses a missile threat. The issue has so far been based on Moscow’s main argument that Tehran is still unable to create ballistic missiles. However, Robert Gates announced late October that Washington would start the construction of missile facilities right after an agreement is signed with the Czech and Polish governments. During the October talks in Moscow Russian diplomats expressed interest to the idea but they insisted that the United States legally formulate obligations to Russia after the facilities are put into operation. Washington is not likely to have considered this in its proposals.
The United States also suggests providing the Russian military with an access to the facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic on a regular basis, a move that the Pentagon chief announced back in late October at an informal session of the Russia-NATO council in Noordwijk. Robert Gates said that Russian experts could be allowed to come and monitor the anti- aircraft facilities in Easter Europe, but it would not be a permanent mission. Washington, however, added that Russia can be allowed to the facilities only if Polish and Czech authorities agree. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has recently promised that the Russian military would be able to make inspections of the base regularly but the Czech Republic would not allow them to stay there permanently. Poland’s new Prime Minister Donald Tusk has not spoken on the matter yet.
But all the trade-offs are not likely to keep Moscow satisfied with any of Washington’s offers. The Kremlin has repeatedly said that missile facilities in Eastern Europe pose a threat to Russia’s security. Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has confirmed the stance in the most recent official statement. “Russia’s position on the anti-aircraft missile defense is the same,” he said in Noordwijk in late October after he examined America’s latest proposals. “We are not satisfied with anything we have been offered so far. But the written suggestions of the United States are still being studied.”
Kommersant, No 216, p.9
Filed by Nikola Cvetkovic under Arms Control, Proliferation and WMD