Russia To Send NATO Proposals On Euro Shield

SPACEWAR

Russia To Present NATO With Proposals For Euro Shield

Putin will soon have the chance to outline his ideas for a Pan European missile shield first floated last year.

Moscow (Interfax) Feb. 16, 2001
Specific Russian proposals on the development of a non-strategic missile defense system for Europe will be presented to NATO Secretary General George Robertson during his visit to Moscow on February 19-21, Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, head of the international defense cooperation department at the Russian Defense Ministry, announced at a Friday news conference in Moscow.

The proposals most of all provide for "the realistic and objective evaluation by all interested countries of the presence or absence of nuclear threats," Ivashov said. "If they do exist or are likely to develop, a set of political and diplomatic steps need to be planned to neutralize these threats."

If such a threat cannot be dealt with peacefully, "the modeling of an inexpensive European non-strategic missile defense system can be started. A mobile anti-missile rapid deployment force capable of positioning in various regions could be part of that system," Ivashov said.

The essence of the U.S. plans is deploying part of a strategic missile defense system on the European continent to shield European countries, Ivashov continued. "This is a costly undertaking. If the Europeans are involved, the Americans will have all the resources used to provide security for financing that program," he said.

If such a system is in fact deployed in Europe, Russia will regard this as "a first echelon for intercepting Russian strategic missiles. To put it differently, the Americans will have Europe shielding the United States and protecting its own national interests," Ivashov said.

SPACEWAR

Rumsfeld Attacks Russia's opposition To Missile Shield

Washington (AFP) Feb. 14, 2001
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld late Wednesday criticized Russian opposition to the proposed US missile defense system and called Moscow an "active proliferator" bent on stopping the United States from defending itself.

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