Russia wants NATO guarantees missile shield will not target it.

BRUSSELS (Itar-Tass) - Russia wants binding legal guarantees
from NATO that its missile shield in Europe will not target its territory
and objects plans to deploy missile defense elements in Romania as they
will cover the whole European part of the Russian territory.
"Our position is open and transparent. We are ready for missile
defense cooperation and advance our own proposals in the sphere. But we
need firm guarantees that the system will not be aimed against our
interests. The issue of such legally binding guarantees shall be discussed
at the top level," Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said on
Thursday adding Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama were likely to
consider the guarantees at a meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit in
Deauville later this month.
The ambassador objected US plans to deploy missile defense elements in
Romania as their operational range will cover a big part of the Russian
territory.
"We believe NATO shall be in charge of its own missile defense while
Russia (will be responsible) for its own. We can create joint projects to
analyze information and make decisions, but combat capabilities of the US
missile shield shall be moved away from Russian borders as far as their
operational range. If the range is one thousand kilometers they should be
deployed not closer than a thousand kilometers from the Russian border,"
Rogozin said.
He stressed that plans to deploy missile defense elements with a range
of over a thousand kilometers in Romania "will cover the Russian territory
up to the Urals. It means the United States will ensure missile defense of
Russia and we did not ask it to do that at all," Rogozin stressed.
He was speaking after an ambassadorial meeting of the Russia-NATO
Council in which Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov and US
Missile Defense Agency head Patrick O'Reilly participated.
"The Russian and US military have accumulated a major cooperation load
on missile defense, but the load remains on a train which stays still. A
political impulse is necessary for the train to start moving," Rogozin
said.
"Russia is considering a possibility to sign a legally binding
international document that will provide strict guarantees that missile
defense systems will not target any participant in the Russia-NATO Council
and will confirm that the missile defense system poses no threat to the
Russian strategic nuclear potential," Rogozin said.
"Everything what the American partners are telling us shall be fixed
on paper, including tactical and technical characteristics of the missile
defense systems, the determination of responsibility zones, etc. We need a
corresponding interstate agreement that will strictly fix that all combat
and information capabilities of the missile defense shall be deployed
outside the common space of Russia and NATO and shall not target each
other," he added.
The ambassador said Russia had submitted for the consideration of the
Russia-NATO Council a document on political principles and aims of
cooperation in missile defense which sums up all Russian proposals. If the
document is approved it may become the basis for the discussion by Russian
and NATO defense ministers on June 9 in Brussels.

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