Senior Russian diplomat blasts U.S. missile shield plans in Europe

19:59|01/ 03/ 2007

MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) – U.S. plans to place elements of its
missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic could destroy the
detente process and destabilize the situation in Europe, a senior
Russian diplomat said Thursday.

Washington said in January it planned to build a radar installation in
the Czech Republic and a missile interceptor base in Poland in the
next five years.

The U.S. insists that the European missile shield is meant to counter
possible attacks from Iran or North Korea, but Moscow strongly opposes
the deployment of a missile shield in its former backyard in Central
Europe, describing the plans as a threat to Russian national security.

"A country cannot ensure its own security by raising other countries’
concerns for their security," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander
Grushko said.

He said Europe and the world have been strengthening security in the
past 20 years through open dialogue and the reduction or elimination
of "elements that caused mutual concern, including nuclear weapons and
conventional weapons."

But the recent U.S. missile shield plans and NATO’s eastward expansion
could turn this positive trend around and lead to another spiral of
the arms race characteristic of the "cold war," the Russian diplomat
said.

"In addition, destabilizing consequences of this [missile shield]
project are reflected in the fact that the announced U.S. desire to
protect itself from certain countries could force these countries to
consider scenarios of extreme response to U.S. policies toward them,"
Grushko said.

He said these scenarios might include "the possibility of these
countries delivering missile strikes against the United States from
their territory."

Grushko also said that the U.S. administration announced last week a
possibility that the future missile shield could be placed not only in
Poland and the Czech Republic but also in other countries.

"Just because we have systems deployed potentially in the Czech
Republic as well as in Poland, that does not mean that through other
avenues of cooperation the [missile shield] architecture might change
and evolve over time," U.S. Department of State Spokesman Sean
McCormack said at a Daily Press Briefing on February 24.

The Russian diplomat said such a statement could indicate that "this
[missile shield] program might have a long-lasting influence on
U.S. policies, including during future U.S. administrations."

In response to U.S. missile shield plans, Moscow has already warned
Washington that it could unilaterally pull out of the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and resume production
of intermediate- and short-range missiles in the future.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress