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27 May 2011
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 In
a press conference following the conclusion of the G-8 Summit in Deauville,
France, President Dmitry Medvedev discussed Russia’s response to missile defense
talks with the US.On the critical subject of missile defense, which threatens to create a return to Cold-War conditions for the European continent, not to mention US-Russian relations, Medvedev expressed his dissatisfaction with the result of the talks. "I am not satisfied with the American side's reaction to my proposals and with NATO's reaction in general,” the Russian leader told reporters on Friday at the resort town of Deauville. “Why? Because we are wasting time. Even though I spoke about the year 2020 yesterday as a deadline…which is the year when the construction of a four-stage system of the so-called adaptive approach ends." "After 2020, if we do not come to terms, a real arms race will begin," Medvedev warned. The Russian leader stressed that he has received no satisfactory guarantees that the missile defense shield is not being targeted at Russia. “When we ask for the name of the countries that the shield is aimed at, we get silence,” he said. “When we ask if the country has missiles (that could be aimed at Europe), the answer is 'no.'” “Now who has those type of missiles (that the missile defense system could work against)?” “We do,” Medvedev explained. “So we can only think that this system is being aimed against us.” Moscow has stated on many occasions in the past that without Russia's full participation in the missile defense project, an arms race could break out once again on the European continent. The Russian president said that he would not look forward to living on such a continent that has reverted back to an arms race. US President Barack Obama upon entering office made a "reset" in relations with Russia a primary goal of his administration. Much to Moscow's satisfaction, the Democratic leader "scrapped" the Bush plan for missile defense, which called for land-based missile systems and sophisticated radar on the territories of Poland and the Czech Republic. The new Obama plan, however, which relies on sea-based interceptors, has proven to be no less threatening to Russia's national security, Moscow argues, unless Russian technicians are permitted a hand in the developmental and operational stages of the program. Thus far, this has not happened. |
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