Source: Global Security Newswire, 29 February
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday acknowledged that the military alliance's negotiations with Russia on missile defence collaboration had come to a standstill, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Feb. 22).
The sides in November 2010 agreed to pursue avenues for cooperation as the United States and NATO developed a missile shield intended to cover Europe. However, they have not been able to resolve some key differences, including Moscow’s demand for a binding pledge that its nuclear forces would not be targeted by missile interceptors deployed around the continent.
NATO does not anticipate any notable message from its former Cold War foe on the matter before the Russian presidential election scheduled for Saturday, Rasmussen said. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has been critical of the European antimissile project, is expected to retake the presidency (see GSN, Feb. 23).
Russian leaders have pledged to take steps to offset the perceived threat posed by the NATO system, which would augment and connect the missile defences of individual member nations. Among the threatened measures are deployment of short-range ballistic missiles near alliance states and withdrawal from the US-Russian New START nuclear arms control accord.
Failure to reach a deal on the missile defence system could lead to cancellation a planned May meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Chicago, the NATO chief said.
He reaffirmed that the missile shield would be developed even if Russia chooses not to participate, but that he hopes the Kremlin would see the security benefits of a joint program in countering shared threats. NATO says the shield is aimed at defeating missile threats from the Middle East, specifically Iran (ITAR-Tass, Feb. 28).
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov offered a similarly downbeat assessment of the issue on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.
“We have no grounds to speak of progress, no grounds to say that we may agree on a (joint) document by May (when Chicago hosts a NATO summit),” he said to reporters.
It would be up to the next president to decide whether to travel to Chicago for the summit, Ryabkov said (RIA Novosti, Feb. 29).