NATO seeks to ease Russian concerns over US missile defence

earthtimes
Brussels-NATO foreign ministers will try this week to ease Russian concerns over controversial plans by the United States to station missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move that Moscow says is a threat to its national security. "We seek collaboration with Russia on missile defence," said Victoria Nuland, US ambassador to NATO, ahead of the alliance's talks in Oslo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

NATO foreign ministers will meet Lavrov in the Norwegian capital on Thursday. Talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk will be held the following day.

Ministers from the 26-nation alliance are also expected to call for additional cooperation among international aid agencies to promote security, good governance and development in strife-torn Afghanistan.

Separately, officials said ministers would underline NATO's determination to ensure security in Kosovo pending a final decision on the future status of the breakaway Serbian territory.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to use the meeting to try and convince Lavrov that America's planned deployment of 10 unarmed missile interceptors in Poland and a linked radar in neighbouring Czech Republic is not aimed at Russia.

Washington says its system will protect the US and Europe from long-range missiles fired by so-called "rogue states" including Iran and North Korea. "This is a threat we share with Russia," said Nuland.

Moscow, however, appears in no mood to accept US overtures.

Despite US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' statement after talks with Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in Moscow this week that "misunderstandings" with Russia were being cleared up, Moscow remains deeply sceptical about the US blueprint.

Serdyukov has called the shield a "serious destabilising factor" while Yury Baluyevsky, head of Russia's Armed Forces General Staff, insists that the "true goal (of the shield) ... is the creation of defence against the nuclear potential of Russia and China."

With the US and Russia still sparring over the issue, NATO officials say talks with Moscow must focus on assessing the missile threat posed by Iran and North Korea.

Russia says Iran is unlikely to possess an intercontinental ballistic missile able to hit targets in Western Europe in the foreseeable future.

The US argues that the range and capability of Iranian and North Korean missiles should be looked at "strategically," over a 10 to 20-year period.

Washington is also seeking to counter Russian arguments that it was not consulted on the shield by promising "transparency" and consultation.

The US has offered to cooperate with Russia on developing defence technology, sharing intelligence about common threats and has said it is ready to allow Russian officials to inspect future missile bases.

While the focus in Oslo will be on Russia's opposition to the missile shield, Rice is also expected to underline the plan's benefits for Europe.

The US says its shield will be compatible with and complementary to NATO's planned theatre missile defence system in 2010 covering short-range missile threats to troops in small areas.

The NATO system could be "bolted on" to the US shield, agreed NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer last week.

Officials say that while the US system would cover long-range nuclear threats to the US and Europe, the NATO system would protect countries like Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, which are closer to Iran, from short-range missiles.

NATO also says the US system means the alliance will not have to invest millions of dollars in defending Europe from long-range nuclear threats.

While there is no alliance-wide consensus yet on merging the US and NATO missile systems, the plan is being studied by NATO military officials. Technical discussions are likely to be complicated, however.

Ministers are also expecting tough talks with Lavrov on UN proposals for supervised independence for Kosovo. Russia - along with Serbia - firmly opposes the plan but the US and most EU states are in favour of it.

On Afghanistan, ministers are expected to underline satisfaction with NATO's military progress in fighting a resurgent Taleban but call for more aid for the reconstruction and development of the country. The US also wants NATO to train and mentor Afghan army and police forces.