Translated material
PRO and CONTRA
Condoleezza Rice responded to Russian initiatives
Russia and the United States are unlikely to resolve the contradictions surrounding the deployment in Europe of elements of the American missile defense system (ABM) before the fall. But there is little hope that compromises will be found by September-October. For this period, as stated by First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergei Ivanov, consultations are planned between the heads of defense and foreign policy departments of the two countries. In the meantime, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will participate in these consultations, has disappointed Russia by clearly answering “no” to Vladimir Putin’s initiatives , voiced by him at the G8 summit in early June in Germany, and then last week during a meeting with George Bush .As an alternative to American plans in Europe, the Russian president proposed using the Gabala radar station (radar) , leased by Moscow from Azerbaijan, as well as a new Russian radar station being built in Armavir (Krasnodar Territory). The Kremlin called these initiatives of Vladimir Putin “breakthrough.”
The Americans almost immediately responded that this did not suit them as an alternative. But only last weekend, in an interview with the American television company CNN, Ms. Rice spoke more clearly: “We believe that we still have to continue to move forward with the Czech Republic and Poland.” "The Russians, after a period of saying 'no, no, no' to what we intend to do in the area of missile defense, have decided to come up with their own ideas. But now we disagree," the secretary of state added.
However, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov does not lose optimism. He still hopes that Russia will be able to create a joint global missile defense system with US participation by 2020. “The system provides for the connection to it not only of NATO countries, allies of the United States, but also of all of Europe, including neutral countries - Austria, Finland, Sweden,” he said on Saturday. And he emphasized that if Washington accepts Russian proposals, then Moscow “will no longer have the need to deploy missile weapons in the European part of the country, including Kaliningrad, in order to fend off the threats that will inevitably arise in the event of the deployment of missile defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland.” .
The idea of creating a global missile defense system is not new. “Proposals in this regard appeared several years ago, but have not yet been in demand. The system involves the creation of radar stations for detecting involuntary missile launches and destroying them in the air. In addition, the global missile defense system must protect our countries from missile attacks from those states that can acquire ballistic missiles, primarily Iran. Duty at the radar of the global missile defense system can be carried out by a mixed crew of Russian, US and NATO military personnel,” explained Major General Alexander Vladimirov, vice-president of the College of Military Experts, in an interview with Vremya Novostei.
Major General Alexander Vladimirov explains Washington’s reluctance to accept Moscow’s proposals by the fact that the same Gabala radar, capable of observing space within a radius of 8 thousand km - from Canada to China, cannot “see the territory of Russia, which the Americans would really like”: “That’s why Washington is so stubbornly clinging to the plan to deploy missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic.”
The Gabala radar station is part of a “passive” surveillance system and, unlike the proposed US missile defense base in Poland, cannot control missile launches. By the way, the radar station being built in the Krasnodar Territory will not only detect missile launches, but also control their destruction. But for the Americans, her minus is still the same: she will see everyone except Russia.
However, the White House is not closing the door to further negotiations. Condoleezza Rice did not rule out that proposals for Russian radars could be used when the United States considers “a regional architecture to counter the threat of long-range missiles in the future,” and suggested waiting for the fall meeting of the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries.