Brinksmanship: US Missile Plan Raises ‘Questions’ - Russia Pushes Advantage

Sensing advantage and pressing for it Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Friday, Moscow could still have objections to the revised U. S. missile shield. Russia appears to believe Obama will do almost anything to renegotiate the START TREATY this Fall so, most regardless of the facts, he can grandstand as the 2010 U. S. reelection year dawns.

Almost coincident with Clinton’s visit to Russia Lavrov warned the new US missile defense plan “raises more questions than answers,” indicating that ties between the two former Cold War foes remained bumpy despite the US now near collapse on meaningful missile defense.

Apparently for emphasis Gen. Niolai Makarov, chief of the Russian general staff, visited Cuba in late September for meetings with Cuban leader Raul Castro.

“We would like to receive full clarification,” Lavrov added, speaking to reporters during a visit to Moldova for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of ex-Soviet countries.

The Obama administration said last month it was scrapping a plan to deploy anti-missile facilities in eastern Europe, which had been strongly backed by former US president George W. Bush.

Russia, which fiercely opposed the Bush missile shield, applauds Obama’s a move to scrap the missile shield but said it needed to study the details, and sensing it can get more for little or nothing is demanding it.

Under the new plan, Obama would replace the land-based facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic with a sea-based system designed to protect against short- and medium-range missiles from Iran. Thank begs the definition of Iran’s missile ranges as sources say it already have a 4,000 kilometer missile on launch pads.

Lavrov said Moscow and Washington were now holding talks so Russia could “understand the configuration” of the new system, but he added that reports of some US proposals were raising eyebrows in Moscow.

He said a report that the United States might include Ukraine in its missile defence plans was “rather unexpected.” Russia is determined to keep missioles out of the Ukraine and to keep it neutral to NATO until Putin can act decicievely. With Ukraine in hand expect Russia to push for similar retreat s in Turkey. In fact that could be a concession in the START II Treaty talks starting in Geneva at midmonth.

US publication Defense News reported Thursday that Washington might consider Ukraine as part of its new anti-missile programme and had added the ex-Soviet country “to the list of possible early warning sites.”

Defense News cited the source of the report as Alexander Vershbow, US assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

“A statement by Alexander Vershbow was rather unexpected,” Lavrov said when asked to comment.

“He is a person who’s prone to extravagancies,” Lavrov added, referring to Vershbow, who is also a former US ambassador to Russia.

Russia has chilly relations with the pro-Western government in Ukraine, which has sought to bring the country into NATO that Russia wants blocked once and for all.

Moscow is deeply suspicious to the point of paranoia of any US military cooperation with former Soviet republics such as Ukraine or Georgia because Russia has control aspirations.

Lavrov said he would discuss a range of issues with Clinton during her visit to Russia October 12-14, including Iran and Afghanistan, where US forces are struggling to put down a Taliban insurgency that has not violently spread and intensified in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“We are not indifferent to what is happening now in Afghanistan,” Lavrov said. Undoubtedly Russia is fully aware of the covert U. S. role in support of the Mujahedeen there that contributed to much bloody fighting and its final defeat in Afghanistan.

Clinton will most likely meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while in Moscow, Lavrov said.

Separately, Medvedev said in an interview broadcast Friday that there were “not bad” chances for Moscow and Washington to reach a deal on a new nuclear disarmament treaty by the end of the year.

“We have given our negotiators the task of finishing a deal in time. I think the chances are really not bad,” Medvedev said in a interview with Russia’s Channel One state television network.

“But it will be necessary to show wisdom on both sides, a desire to listen to one another and an understanding of certain contemporary realities,” Medvedev added, without elaborating.

Ties between Moscow and Washington have been badly strained in recent years amid disputes over missile defense and last year’s Russia-Georgia war, but they have warmed somewhat since Obama’s inauguration in January and his major concessions..

On Friday Obama sought to reassure Russia that Washington had no plans to deploy radars or weaponry in Ukraine as part of its new missile defense plan.

The Defense Department was forced to clarify its plans after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov voiced concern over the new missile shield and said a report that Ukraine might be part of the system was “rather unexpected.”

US Assistant Secretary of Defense Alexander Vershbow had told reporters on Thursday that Ukraine and other countries have expressed an interest in hosting a radar site for the shield.

But the Pentagon said: “He (Vershbow) did not make any reference to the stationing of US radars or any other missile defense systems on the territory of Ukraine, and no such proposal has been made to the government of Ukraine.”

The United States remained interested in earlier proposals dating back several years that would involve sharing data from Russian early-warning radars in Armavir and in Azerbajian, it said.

Obama said last month Washington was scrapping an older plan to deploy anti-missile weaponry and radar in Poland and the Czech Republic, a system strongly backed by former US president George W. Bush.

Russia, which fiercely opposed the Bush missile shield, initially welcomed the Obama administration’s move but said it needed to study the details.

The new US plan “raises more questions than answers,” Lavrov said on Friday during a visit to Moldova for a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of ex-Soviet countries.

Lavrov’s comments came ahead of a trip to Russia next week by his US counterpart Hillary Clinton, signalling ties between the two former Cold War foes remained bumpy despite the US shift on missile defense.

Under the new plan, Washington would replace the land-based sites in Poland and the Czech Republic with a network of sensors and sea-based interceptors designed to protect Europe against short- and medium-range missiles from Iran. The system would eventually add land-based interceptors in about 2015.

In his remarks Thursday, Vershbow said Russian officials initially responded with “euphoria” to Obama’s missile shield decision but have since taken a more tempered view.

He said he was hopeful Russia would adopt a more cooperative attitude on the system.

“My sense is the Russians are taking a more objective look and they may be less inclined to throw up political conditions or obstacles,” he said. Afterall Russia got more than it ever thought to take out of the U. S. hide so why back down now?