BRUSSELS: Russia is studying changes to the US missile defence programme, but still wants guarantees that the system would not be used against Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.
US and Nato plans to build an anti-missile shield around Western Europe to protect against attack from Iran and North Korea have been a major irritant in relations with Russia, which fears the system’s interceptors could eventually shoot down its long-range nuclear missiles.
The Pentagon said last month it would station additional missile interceptors in Alaska in response to North Korean threats and at the same time forgo a new type of interceptor that would have been deployed in Europe.
This latter type of missile had caused most concern to Moscow, which believed it could be used to shoot down Russian strategic missiles. US officials hope the change will end the standoff with Moscow.
Lavrov said he discussed the issue in his talks at Nato headquarters yesterday where he met Nato ministers, including his US counterpart John Kerry.
“We are studying the proposals conveyed by the American side to us to further deepen the dialogue on missile defence cooperation. We are studying these proposals and the current developments and plans of the United States in this field,” Lavrov told a news conference at Nato headquarters.
“We are ready for dialogue but cooperation could be only equitable, with clear-cut guarantees,” Lavrov said.
Belarus air base by 2015
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday announced an agreement to open an air base in Belarus by 2015, part of the two post-Soviet neighbours’ plan to forge a political and military alliance on the doorstep of the European Union.
“We are beginning to work on a plan to create here a Russian air base with fighter jets,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying at a meeting with Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“We plan to continue to address the issues necessary for strengthening the defensive capabilities of our Belarussian colleagues and brothers,” Shoigu was quoted as saying by Lukashenko’s office.
The base is due to open in 2015, while the first fighter jets will appear in Belarus already this year, Shoigu was quoted as saying.
He added that under an earlier agreement, Russia next year will send to Belarus four batteries of S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems. Russia already has a radar station and a navy radio station in Belarus but the air unit will be Russia’s first major military base in that country.
The two countries already have a customs union and cooperate within the framework of the so-called Union State alliance.
Together with the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan, they also have agreed to create a Eurasian economic union, an EU-style project championed by Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring together ex-Soviet states.
Relations between Moscow and Minsk have at times also been prickly, as mercurial Belarus strongman Lukashenko has in recent years launched populist attacks against Russia over energy price hikes.
Belarus, which has borders with EU states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, has grown increasingly isolated from the West under Lukashenko’s rule and repeatedly squabbles with the European Union over its rights record.
Moscow and Minsk plan to hold joint military exercises in Belarus in September. The West has in the past expressed concern over the two countries’ manoeuvres on Poland’s border, saying they run counter to an improvement in ties between Moscow and Nato.
Agencies
