NATO considers Russia's defence plan

MOSCOW, Russia -- NATO Secretary-General George Robertson is due to brief alliance members on Russia's plans for an alternative missile defence system.

The NATO chief is meeting the bloc's ambassadors on Wednesday to give them details on top-level talks he held in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin.

The talks centre on a planned U.S. national missile defence system (NMD) and Russia's cut-price alternative for Europe.

Russian proposal for missile defence system:  • Joint defence system involving Russia and European nations  • System is to counter medium and short-range missiles  • Moscow says its system is more limited, more mobile and cheaper than U.S. version  • System would not violate 1972 nuclear missile treaty between U.S and then Soviet Union. The treaty bars either nation from deploying a strategic missile defence system capable of defending its entire national territory. Source: CNN Moscow Bureau    VIDEO CNN's Jill Dougherty says Russia staged war games in advance of NATO visit Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Steve Harrigan reports: US and Russian relations sour 480kb/45sec. AIFF or WAV sound NATO visit and agenda 440kb/41sec. AIFF or WAV sound Russian opposition to NATO expansion 330kb/30sec. AIFF or WAV sound CNN's Jill Dougherty: A radical departure from the US system 462kb/42sec. AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Missile defense system    RESOURCES Q&A: US National Missile Defence How the proposed missile system would work Text of the ABM Treaty

Robertson has sought to soothe Russian fears of NATO's possible further expansion to include the Baltic republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- a move that would bring NATO to Russia's western borders.

On the final day of his visit to Moscow, Robertson took his message of partnership to the Russian public with a university lecture and an appearance on a live radio call-in programme.

"The alliance was and continues to be ready to engage Russia," he said. "Not for sentimental reasons, but for good reasons of self-interest.

"Why should it be any more of a problem for NATO to have members that are close to Russia when there is already a NATO member, Norway, which is an immediate neighbour of Russia?" he asked.

Russia's Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev outlined Russia's answer to the NMD -- a mobile European missile defence system, dubbed "Euro-Pro."

Robertson told CNN details were vague -- but welcomed what he described as Russia's shared concerns with the West about the possibility of missile attacks by so-called rogue states.

Russian specialists will provide more details when they brief NATO at its headquarters in Brussels soon.

Robertson said: "I think we will need to study this proposal more so that we can decide whether it's simply a wedge-driving exercise, although I think it's not, or if it is actually a genuine attempt to address a problem that is now perceived on both sides to be there."

The mobile system would be an alternative to the planned $60 billion U.S. NMD system that Moscow says would invalidate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and threaten a new arms race.

Germany has been one of the countries to voice criticism of the U.S. plan. The issue was on the agenda at a meeting in Washington of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Fischer made little public comment on the subject except to say that he and Powell had a "very good discussion" about it.

Robertson said the Russian plan was evidence that both NATO and Russia recognised the threat of missiles from unstable states and had to work together to counter it.

Last year Putin called for joint work on a "non-strategic" defence system to counter potential attacks from what Washington has referred to as "rogue states" such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea without undermining arms pacts.

The result was Russia's proposal for a close assessment of existing and future missile threats. If detected, they could be nipped in the bud by joint political efforts.

Failing that, mobile anti-missile units would be deployed near the potential aggressor only as a last resort.

Some European members of NATO share Russian misgivings over NMD and have sought details of its proposals.

Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, who heads Russia's military foreign relations department, said Russia's three-stage proposal was "radically different" from the U.S. scheme.

Washington has already signalled a willingness to negotiate over NMD with its NATO allies and Russia and China.

But a Russian military and diplomatic source, quoted by Interfax news agency, played down any suggestion that Russia and the U.S. could produce a joint anti-missile shield.

The source said such a proposal would make legitimate U.S. plans to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty -- seen by Russia as the bedrock of arms control -- and give Washington access to Russian technology it lacked.

It also could upset other key players, the source said. "It could stir antagonism in China, India and a host of other countries which share Russia's position on the necessity of upholding the ABM agreement," the unnamed source said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Russian Government
NATO
U.S National Missile Defence Programme

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