Bring Russia Inside Security "Tent," NATO Chief Says
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Friday emphasized the importance of bringing Russia inside the security "tent" amid plans to cover alliance states with a ballistic missile shield, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 16).
"If we manage to create an inclusive missile defense system, it can reinforce a virtuous circle," Rasmussen said during an event in Rome.
"If Russia and other countries feel like they are inside the tent with the rest of us, rather than outside the tent looking in, it will build trust," he said.
Moscow took a strong view against U.S. plans during the Bush administration to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic. It has remained wary of the Obama administration's revised plan for European missile defenses, which officially focus on fielding land- and sea-based versions of the Standard Missile 3 system around the continent as a hedge against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.
Meanwhile, NATO could decide at its November summit in Lisbon to establish alliance-wide missile defenses.
Iran "already has missiles that can hit NATO territory and Russia too (and) is expanding their range," Rasmussen said.
A "more flexible" program on missile defense would not be prohibitively expensive, he added.
"To expand a system to protect all our nations" would require a "small investment" of roughly $275 million over two decades, according to the one-time Danish prime minister. "How can we afford not to?" he said.
Rasmussen has said he would like to see Moscow participate in the Nov. 19-20 alliance conference. The 28 NATO states should use the event to "invite Russia to cooperate, linking a (missile defence) system of ours with capabilities of theirs."
"Unless we make a clear offer to Russia, we would risk that it will feel, rightly or wrongly, kept out of the tent," he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 17).
"If we manage to create an inclusive missile defense system, it can reinforce a virtuous circle," Rasmussen said during an event in Rome.
"If Russia and other countries feel like they are inside the tent with the rest of us, rather than outside the tent looking in, it will build trust," he said.
Moscow took a strong view against U.S. plans during the Bush administration to deploy missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic. It has remained wary of the Obama administration's revised plan for European missile defenses, which officially focus on fielding land- and sea-based versions of the Standard Missile 3 system around the continent as a hedge against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.
Meanwhile, NATO could decide at its November summit in Lisbon to establish alliance-wide missile defenses.
Iran "already has missiles that can hit NATO territory and Russia too (and) is expanding their range," Rasmussen said.
A "more flexible" program on missile defense would not be prohibitively expensive, he added.
"To expand a system to protect all our nations" would require a "small investment" of roughly $275 million over two decades, according to the one-time Danish prime minister. "How can we afford not to?" he said.
Rasmussen has said he would like to see Moscow participate in the Nov. 19-20 alliance conference. The 28 NATO states should use the event to "invite Russia to cooperate, linking a (missile defence) system of ours with capabilities of theirs."
"Unless we make a clear offer to Russia, we would risk that it will feel, rightly or wrongly, kept out of the tent," he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Sept. 17).
No comments:
Post a Comment