PanARMENIAN.Net
Russia and U.S. to continue seeking for solution to
missile defense issue
07.09.2007 18:40 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia and the United States will
continue looking for a solution to the ongoing dispute
on U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements in
Central Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin said
Friday.
The Russian leader met with President George W. Bush
in Sydney, in advance of a summit of the 21 leaders of
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries, to be
held over the weekend.
"We discussed all problems on the bilateral agenda,
and the most important international issues, primarily
the problem of missile defense," the Russian president
said after the meeting at the Sydney Harbor Marriott
Hotel.
"We noted that our experts should hold another meeting
in the near future and travel to Azerbaijan to visit
the Gabala radar base," he said.
High-ranking diplomats from Russia and the United
States will meet in Paris on Monday to discuss U.S.
plans to deploy interceptor missiles in north Poland
and a radar system in the Czech Republic. The plans
have angered Russia, which considers them a threat to
its national security.
At the G8 summit in Germany in May, Vladimir Putin
proposed a compromise solution, offering the U.S. the
use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan. The radar,
located near the town of Minchegaur, 120 kilometers
(75 miles) from the capital Baku, was leased to Russia
for 10 years in 2002.
The radar has been operational since early 1985. With
a range of 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles), it is the
most powerful in the region and can detect any missile
launches in Asia, the Middle East and parts of Africa,
RIA Novosti reports.