NATO, Russia say still no agreement on missiles

BRUSSELS (AP) – Russia and NATO remain deadlocked on a long-running dispute over the alliance’s plan for a missile shield for Europe, officials said Thursday, and Russia warned that time was running out for an agreement.

Russia wants Missile Defense Legal Guarantees

Russia voiced concern Tuesday about U.S. missile defense plans and said it needs “solid legal guarantees” that American deployments will not upset the strategic and regional nuclear balance.

Lavrov: Missile defense remains the biggest irritant in US-Russian relations

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says that missile defense remains the biggest irritant in Russian-American relations.

Russia Can Still Opt Out of U.S. Arms Treaty

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov

After the recent signing of the START treaty between Russian president Medvedev and U.S. President Obama, Russia still has the ability to “opt out of the treaty if qualitative and quantitative parameters of the U.S. strategic missile defense begin to significantly affect the efficiency of Russian strategic nuclear forces,” according to Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Russia said Tuesday it reserves the right to withdraw from its new arms-control treaty with the U.S. if it decides the planned U.S. missile-defense shield threatens its security.

Russia will issue a statement outlining the terms for such a withdrawal after President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev sign the nuclear-arms reduction treaty Thursday in Prague, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. The new accord replaces the 1991 START treaty, which expired in December.

US-Russian Deal On Nukes Nearly Completed

U.S. Sect. of State Hillary Clinton & Russian Foreign Minster Sergey Lavrov

Negotiations for the START follow-on treaty between the U.S. and Russia could be coming to a close soon. Both sides claim that they are close to a deal, and that they are stuck on technical issues, not political ones. This follows what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks in Moscow last week; that a deal was near – but not done.

Nearly a year after President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered negotiators to work on a new treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenals, the two countries say they are finally close to completing a deal.

A deal – a small but important step toward Obama’s goal of a nuclear arms-free world – could build momentum and trust toward resolving other key nuclear issues. They range from how to pressure Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear ambitions to reducing the number of tactical nuclear weapons that are so unpopular in Europe. It could also set a positive tone for a key conference on nuclear non-proliferation this spring.

Medvedev, Obama May Talk on Arms Treaty, Russian Official Says

Medvedev and Obama

Medvedev and Obama may attempt to close the gap on the “Re-START” treaty over the phone in a few days. Sources say that the phone call may be decisive in finalizing terms for the replacement to the START treaty that expired in Dec. 2009. The primary disagreement between the two sides has been the recent missile defense developments in Eastern Europe.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama may try to bridge differences delaying completion of a nuclear-arms reduction treaty in a phone call in a few days, a top Russian lawmaker said.

Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, told a forum in the Washington area yesterday that the conversation may be “decisive” in resolving the issues.

“The Russian side is a bit more pessimistic and they believe the disagreement is quite serious and we will need to have much higher flexibility from the American side,” Kosachyov told an audience at the Rand Corp. policy-research group in Arlington, Virginia.

Russia Demands Bulgaria’s Explanation on US Missile Shield

We will give explanations when an official request is filed, PM Borissov retorts

“The deployment of parts of the US missile defense shield in Bulgaria will be discussed when this is officially requested,” Bulgaria’s PM Boyko Borissov told The Standart commenting the statement of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that Sofia should explain to Moscow its decision to join the US missile defense system. Not long ago, Bucharest also decided in favor of the US missile shield, which came as an unpleasant surprise to the Kremlin.
Still, PM Boyko Borissov said he would first wait to hear the decision of Brussels before putting the issue on the Bulgarian parliament’s agenda.
James Warlick, Washington’s ambassador to Bulgaria, said earlier in the week that the United States had already held informal talks with the Balkan country on hosting elements of a US missile shield in its territory.
Bulgaria’s MEP Andrey Kovachev said that the missile shield should not be regarded as a threat by Russia, but that it was aimed at defending the country from potential missile threats from other potentially dangerous countries like Iran.

Russia Cool to U.S. Plan for Missiles in Romania

Dmitri Rogozin Russia's representative to NATO

MOSCOW — Russian officials reacted coolly on Friday to the news that Romania had agreed to host American missile interceptors starting in 2015, with a top envoy saying that the announcement could directly affect Moscow’s position as negotiations to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, reach their conclusion.

Dmitri O. Rogozin, Russia’s permanent representative to NATO, said the United States had not fulfilled its promise to consult Russia on developments in the missile defense system. He suggested that the interceptors could pose a threat to Russia’s security, while noting that both Romanian and American officials went out of their way to assure Moscow otherwise.