Putin demands equal role in US missile defence
by Joel Shenton
20 June 2012
The disagreement between the United States and Russia over European missile defence "will not be solved" unless Russia is involved in the system, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
The US is currently developing a missile shield to be based across southern and eastern Europe, which will join together radar and interceptor missile installations at a variety of land bases as well as on American Aegis destroyers in the Mediterranean.
In May, Russia threatened to attack European Phased Adaptive Approach missile shield sites when US SM-3 interceptor missiles were deployed to sites in Poland in 2018 during the shield's third phase.
Russia sees the installation as a direct threat to the effectiveness of its own nuclear deterrent, but the US has insisted the shield is designed to stop rogue missile launches from the Middle East and Iran.
The US has rebuffed Russia's requests to be involved in the system before, and, speaking at the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Putin said he saw no movement in the US position.
"I think the problem of the missile defence shield will not be solved regardless of whether Obama is re-elected or not," news agency Interfax quoted Putin as saying.
"I think that something can radically change only in the case if the US agrees with our proposal which says that Russia, Europe and US were equal participants of this process," he added.
This article was first published by PublicServiceEurope.com's sister site defencemanagement.com Putin doubts missile shield agreement
The US is currently developing a missile shield to be based across southern and eastern Europe, which will join together radar and interceptor missile installations at a variety of land bases as well as on American Aegis destroyers in the Mediterranean.
In May, Russia threatened to attack European Phased Adaptive Approach missile shield sites when US SM-3 interceptor missiles were deployed to sites in Poland in 2018 during the shield's third phase.
Russia sees the installation as a direct threat to the effectiveness of its own nuclear deterrent, but the US has insisted the shield is designed to stop rogue missile launches from the Middle East and Iran.
The US has rebuffed Russia's requests to be involved in the system before, and, speaking at the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Putin said he saw no movement in the US position.
"I think the problem of the missile defence shield will not be solved regardless of whether Obama is re-elected or not," news agency Interfax quoted Putin as saying.
"I think that something can radically change only in the case if the US agrees with our proposal which says that Russia, Europe and US were equal participants of this process," he added.
This article was first published by PublicServiceEurope.com's sister site defencemanagement.com Putin doubts missile shield agreement
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