Russia disappointed by U.S. response to radar offer

RIA Novosti
Friday November 23, 2007

Russia is disappointed with a U.S. reply to its offer that Washington use its radar systems as an alternative to missile defense plans for Central Europe, a Russian Foreign Ministry source said on Friday.

On Thursday, the ministry said that the U.S. had made a formal reply to Moscow's proposals that Washington utilize its radars in Azerbaijan and southern Russia to counter possible missile attacks from "rogue regimes." The ministry added that it was studying the reply, and declined to comment further.

The United States plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. Moscow views the plans as a threat to its national security.

(Article continues below)

A source at the Foreign Ministry said that the reply was not what Moscow had expected, and contradicted earlier U.S. pledges.

"Initial studies show that our hopes have not been justified. This is not what Russia was promised at talks in Moscow [in October] in the '2+2' format [between the foreign and defense ministers]," the source said.

Click here to discuss this story in our forum Yahoo! MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Print Email This Page to: