U.S. air shield possible only with Russia’s involvement – FM
12:24|23/ 03/ 2007
MOSCOW, March 23 (RIA Novosti) – U.S. plans to deploy air defense
missiles in Europe could negatively affect Russia’s relations with
NATO if implemented unilaterally without Russia’s involvement or any
consideration of collective interests, Russia’s foreign minister said
Friday.
The United States said in January it would place elements of its
missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland to counter
possible attacks from Iran or North Korea. Moscow has strongly
criticized the move, saying it threatened Russia’s security, and
warned it could revise its military doctrine accordingly.
"We are against ‘strategic games’ in Europe, which could all but
create a potential for confrontations and align European policies in
accordance with the friend-or-foe principle," Sergei Lavrov said in
his newspaper article.
Washington also said March 1 that it would place other elements of its
missile defense system in the South Caucasus, but did not specify
which of the three former Soviet countries it would choose – Armenia,
Azerbaijan or Georgia – with the latter being anxious to join NATO.
Lavrov said a confrontation with the U.S. was not predetermined, and
there were no objective grounds for a new Cold War. The words came as
a follow-up to his statement earlier this week, in which the minister
accused the U.S. of using a Cold War approach by uniting other
countries against a common "Soviet threat."
The U.S. insists that the European shield is not aimed against Russia
and is needed to counter possible attacks from the so-called "rogue
states," including North Korea and Iran.
But Lavrov said Russia wanted the U.S. actions to be consistent and
logical. "We are being called upon to fight against a hypothetical
threat, while a real threat to our security is looming," he said.
The minister voiced his concerns that structures and instruments –
NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty and others -which have
been inherited from the previous era, were being converted into means
to conduct a bloc policy.
Lavrov warned that there was a threat that the reform of the European
architecture of security would be folded, which might predetermine a
new split in Europe for decades coming.
The reform has been promoted by Russia and other states since 2004,
which have accused the OSCE of bias, poor governance and lack of
initiative. Along with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis
management and post-conflict rehabilitation, the 56-nation grouping
also monitors elections, human rights, arms proliferation, and
democracy.