November 29, 2006 :: AP :: News
U.S. plans to build a missile defense site in Eastern Europe are designed “to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential,” according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. U.S. officials are currently in negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic, and have indicated that the site is intended to defend Europe against ballistic missiles from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. Yet Ivanov was recently quoted by Belarus’
Soyuznoye Gosudarstvo magazine as stating, “We are told that this system is allegedly intended to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. But Iran has no missiles of this class and is unlikely to obtain them in the foreseeable future.” He continued: “The U.S.-declared threat, which can allegedly be countered by the system under development, is only an attempt to cover up efforts to change strategic stability and to weaken Russia’s deterrence potential.” Ivanov also said that deployment of part of the U.S. system near the border of Belarus would do nothing to boost security in Europe.
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