Americas

Americas

US submits proposal to Russia for cooperation on missile defense

22 November 2007 10:20 (UTC +04:00)

The U.S. also submitted a proposal that it hoped would discourage Moscow from withdrawing from a key European arms control treaty. The proposals were brought to agenda after meeting of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Minister Robert Gates and Russian leadership in Moscow. Russia wanted US to submit its proposals in written form in negotiations. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are expected to discuss the issue on Monday ahead of Middle East peace talks in Annapolis city of US.
AP Agency states that proposals cover integrating U.S., Russian and NATO missile defense systems to expand protection of both Russia and the West, allowing Russian experts to make regular inspections of the U.S. site in Poland, U.S. officials have emphasized that the offer is contingent on approval from Poland, delaying the activation of the U.S. missile interceptors until it is clear that Iran can reach Europe with ballistic missiles. Russian officials have reacted positively to the proposal of delaying activation of the interceptors. But Russian negotiators insist that the offer include a binding treaty that would detail specific terms for activation, said a Russian official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment. The United States would likely object to such a demand. /APA/