Senior U.S. officials told Russian President Vladimir Putin last week that the Bush administration could keep its planned European missile defense installations from becoming operational until the two countries found consensus on the Iranian missile threat, the Financial Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 12).

The offer came during Putin’s meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“It is our intention to proceed with the construction of missile defense in Europe,” said U.S. Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell. “But the pace at which it becomes operational could be adjusted to meet the threat.”

Moscow has routinely blasted the U.S. intention to deploy a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland. Putin and other Russian officials have characterized the plan as a threat to their country’s security and have played down Iran’s missile capabilities.

The Bush administration hopes that Russia would reconsider its assessment of the Iranian missile threat and continues to be worried by long-range missiles that could carry biological or chemical agents, the Times reported.

U.S. officials believe Iran could possess missiles capable of reaching Europe or the United States by 2015, while their Russian counterparts question that timeline. However, Washington points out that the Iranian schedule for deployment of missiles following flight tests is significantly shorter than what is generally seen in Russia.

Russian and U.S. officials have agreed to set criteria for determining Tehran’s missile capabilities (Financial Times, Oct. 17).

A senior State Department official said yesterday that plans for the missile defense installations could be slowed if Iran halted uranium enrichment, Agence France-Presse reported.

“Our real concern is not Russia,” said Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried.

The missile shield is “intended against the major problem we see developing, which is Iran, and if that problem went away or attenuated we would obviously draw conclusions,” he said.

“Our position is that our negotiations with the Poles and the Czechs will continue, but we don’t feel the need to spend money at quite as fast a rate for a threat that is attenuated,” Fried added. “You don’t stay on autopilot, you use your brain and judge things as they actually emerge” (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 17).

A top Russian military official yesterday did not appear impressed by the latest U.S. proposals, which also included permitting Russian inspections of the missile defense sites, Reuters reported.

“As head of the General Staff and an expert from the Russian side, I saw nothing novel in these proposals,” said Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, according to Interfax.

“What novelty there was could be wrapped up by saying or radars in Gabala and Armenia were supposed to become an addition to their antimissile defense system,” he added.

However, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Russian officials indicated yesterday at a NATO meeting in Brussels that the proposals remain under consideration “because they did represent new ideas and concepts.”

“It is a major step ahead from our perspective in terms of showing even more willingness to cooperate and even more willingness to be inclusive of our Russian allies,” said Lt. Gen. Henry Obering (Reuters/Washington Post, Oct. 17).

There was “progress and a positive tone” at the meeting of officials from Russia and NATO nations on the U.S. missile defense plan, Fried said. “We all agreed to keep working,” he said.

“I’m not announcing huge breakthroughs. I’m announcing a constructive meeting,” Fried added (Paul Ames, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Oct. 17).

Source : http://www.nti.org