A joint Russian-NATO missile defense system may be established in the
mid-term its realization depends only on the political will of the
parties involved, assistant of the Russian president Sergey Prikhodko
said, RIA Novosti reports.
The Russian-NATO council will be held after a long break linked with
Georgian aggression in August 2008 and Russia's recognition of the two
former Georgian republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Earlier the head of the Russian air forces Alexander Zelin had said
that the Russian air forces expect to fulfill the goals of the system
together with NATO. The sides are working on using military transport
aviation in the interest of NATO.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said on various
occasions that they need a missile shield from Vancouver to
Vladivostok to link the NATO system with the US system. The European
anti-missile system will be an addition to the NATO concept of nuclear
containment.
Moscow has not received any clear proposals but expressed readiness to
cooperate with NATO in AA issues and establishment of anti-missile
control, only if interests of all sides will be respected.
Russia is expected to take join the NATO missile shield at the NATO
summit in Lisbon on November 19-20.
An official spokesman of NATO James Apparturay said that the alliance
expects that the summit will adopt a new road map in AA cooperation.
He hopes that at the Russia-NATO council the sides will agree on
cooperation in the European AA system.
Earlier, the former US administration headed by George Bush, had
planned to establish anti-missile systems in Poland and a radar in the
Czech Republic. The initiative was criticized by Russia as a threat to
Moscow. The new President Barack Obama introduced new plans. Obama and
the head of the Pentagon Robert Gates introduced adjustments to the
plan on September 17, 2009. The USA decided not to build ground
anti-missile elements in Europe by 2015. A full-scaled anti-missile
system in Europe will be established in 2020 in four stages. Until
then US patrol ships with air-defense interceptors will be on duty.
