Russia's foreign ministry voiced its concern Friday at Romania's plans to host part of a new US missile shield system in Europe, saying it would seek explanations from Europe and Washington.
"This is a serious matter which we will be analysing with care," the ministry said in a statement. "Naturally, we are concerned by this. There is a need to obtain clarifications.
"We will raise this in our contacts with our American and European partners," it added.
Romania's President Traian Basescu on Thursday announced his country had agreed to host medium-range ballistic missile interceptors as part of the US system, expected to be operational by 2015.
The US State Department confirmed his announcement, saying the planned anti-missile shield in Europe was intended to protect against the "emergent threat" from Iran.
The United States in September shelved a plan to place missile defense facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland, after strong protests from Russia.
President Barack Obama's administration announced the new program in September, saying it would reconfigure the system after reevaluating the threat from Iranian long-range ballistic missiles, and deciding to focus on protecting against short- and medium-range missiles.
Source: AFP (Feb 5, 2010)
Gates Says U.S., Iran Aren’t Close to Nuclear Accord
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he doesn’t regard Iran as close to an accord with international powers on the handling of uranium.
“I don’t have the sense that we are close to an agreement,” Gates said today in Turkey’s capital Ankara. He discussed Iran with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Munich yesterday that Iran is “approaching a final agreement” on having nuclear fuel produced outside the Islamic Republic. The country is “serious,” he said. Mottaki also today said he had talks on a possible deal with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano at the Munich Security Conference.
The U.S., the other four permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany are working to persuade Iran to give up enrichment of uranium, which could be used to produce fuel or make a bomb. The group, which also includes China, France, Russia, and the U.K., offered a proposal that would allow Iran to swap uranium in return for enriched fuel for a medical reactor.
Iran’s response has been “quite disappointing,” Gates said. The country continues to resist the IAEA and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, he said.
Nothing Done
“They have done nothing to reassure the international community that they are prepared to comply with the NPT or stop their progress toward a nuclear weapon,” Gates said. “I think that various nations need to think about whether the time has come for a different tack.”
The U.S. and its partners have said that Iran’s failure to negotiate an agreement would lead to more pressure, including financial sanctions. The six nations are discussing a potential Security Council resolution calling for another round of sanctions.
Iran has not made an adequate response to the proposals, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in Munich today.
Gates travels on to Rome today and Paris on Feb. 8 in a trip that started with a NATO meeting in Istanbul.
President Barack Obama relies on Turkey, one of NATO’s two Muslim members, on a range of national security issues straddling Europe and the Middle East, including Iran and the planned withdrawal from neighboring Iraq. Turkey uses U.S. surveillance data in its fight with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which attacks Turkish targets from bases inside northern Iraq.
Assisting Turkey
Gates said he told Turkish officials that he would look for more ways to assist Turkey in the effort, citing a visit to Turkey last week by Army General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.
Erdogan is struggling to win domestic support for a plan to widen rights for Kurds and encourage the PKK to disarm. Ending a war that has killed 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, and cost $300 billion by government estimates, would bolster Turkey’s status as a safe route to Europe for Eurasian oil and gas. It would also help revive Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, which criticizes the treatment of Kurds.
Gates said Erdogan’s attempts to persuade PKK fighters to abandon violence as “a very positive thing.”
Gates, who also met with Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul and Chief of General Staff Ilker Basbug during his Ankara stop, praised Turkey’s contribution to the NATO-led war in Afghanistan. While U.S. officials have urged other alliance members to provide more trainers, Gates said he didn’t ask for more troops from Turkey.
Turkey has about 1,700 troops in Afghanistan and heads two provincial reconstruction teams as well as the regional military command in Kabul.
Missile Defense
A NATO-wide missile defense system was also on the agenda during Gates’s visit. The parties discussed what role Turkey might play in the network, which would include an overhauled plan Obama unveiled in September, he said.
The system is intended primarily to counter any potential Iranian attack, and Gates said in Istanbul this week that NATO member countries should make it a priority of the alliance, alongside winning the war in Afghanistan.
Poland and Romania have agreed to be part of the U.S. missile defense system. Romania, across the Black Sea from Turkey, said this week it would accept ground-based interceptors as part of the radar network to detect and shoot down incoming rockets and missiles.
Gates declined to say whether he’s looking to place naval vessels carrying Aegis radar in the Black Sea, a prospect that has prompted concern from Russian officials.
Source: Bloomberg (Feb. 6, 2010)
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