NATO effectively endorsed Thursday a US move to expand its missile shield into Europe, in the face of Russian opposition, agreeing to study its implications for the alliance's more modest missile defense efforts.
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NATO agreed to study the US plans and consider what it could addImage: AP
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Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax as warning NATO defense ministers in Brussels that the deployment of a US radar and interceptor missiles in the Czech Republic and Poland would be an "unfriendly step."
"We see such a decision as a step aimed at destroying the existing security system, creating new dividing lines on the European continent," he was quoted as saying.
But a senior US official said Serdyukov did not repeat recent Russian threats to target Europe and did not place conditions on a counter-proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin for a joint US-Russian radar in Gabala, Azerbaijan.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made clear that "we intend to continue our talks with Poland and the Czech Republic," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Gates and Putin, in AprilImage: AP "What he has said today is that we want to work with Russia on what role Gabala might play. We also simultaneously need to continue the work at NATO and we need to continue the negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic."
Outside the umbrella
NATO defense ministers agreed to assess the political and military implications of the US missile defense plan with an eye to what NATO would have to do to defend areas in southern Europe not under its umbrella. The assessment is to be completed by February 2008 ahead of a NATO summit in Bucharest to inform allied deliberations on fielding a theater missile defense system that could be "bolted on" to the US system, NATO officials said.
The study was "a recognition that the US discussion and proposals with Poland and the Czech Republic are A: a fact, B: that they are moving forward, and C: that NATO work ... on missile defense needs to take that into account," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai.
Appathurai said none of the 26 member countries had opposed the US plans.
"NATO will now move forward to assess the political and military implications of the US missile system proposals," he said.
NATO ministers then met in a separate session with Serdyukov in what one NATO diplomat described as "calm and cold."
"Each side simply restated its own arguments. There were no harsh words, but then there was no progress either," the diplomat said. Serdyukov warned NATOImage: AP The US official described it as a "very workmanlike session."
"He made no threats today. There were no linkages with regard to Gabala. Allies were very welcoming of Russia's interest in cooperating on missile defense," the official said.
Airing differences
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged Washington to freeze work with Poland and the Czech Republic on its missile shield, concerned that continued talks might worsen the Iranian nuclear stand-off.
Appathurai said the NATO-Russia Council would remain a forum in which both sides could air their differences over missile defense. Many Czechs oppose the plansImage: AP Washington announced in January that it wants to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic linked to an early warning system, probably in the Caucasus, all to be operational by 2013.
The shield is aimed at countering attacks from nations that Washington regards as "rogue states" such as Iran.
The problem for NATO is that four members -- Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey -- are only partly covered or left out of the umbrella all together, undermining the principle of "indivisibility of allied security."
