Caucasus states say no proposal received on U.S. missile shield

Xinhua General News Service
March 3, 2007 Saturday 11:00 PM EST

Caucasus states say no proposal received on U.S. missile shield

Three Caucasus states said on Friday that they have received no
proposal from Washington on deploying U.S. missile defense systems in
the region, Russia’s ITAR-TASS news agency reported Friday.

The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Thursday
Washington could be interested in locating a radar in an unspecified
Caucasus state as part of the Missile Defence System it plans to
deploy in Central Europe.

The Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said the country has not and will not
negotiate with the U.S. on deploying a missile defense system, or on
building a military base in Azerbaijan, which is against its
constitution.

Georgian Congress officials also denied receiving U.S. proposals on
the same issue, saying as a member state of the International
Anti-terror Coalition, Georgia will give good consideration to such
proposals if there are any.

For its part, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said it is cooperating
with Russia in the field of air defense, and is now a part of the
joint air defense system of the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS).