http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/2 00705/FOR20070511b.html Veiled Threats Over Missile Defense Continue Ahead of Rice Visit By Sergei Blagov CNSNews.com Correspondent May 11, 2007
Moscow (CNSNews.com) - As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice prepares for a visit to Russia next week, she faces the daunting task of reassuring a skeptical Kremlin about U.S. plans to deploy anti-missile systems in Central Europe. Moscow says the missile shield plans pose a direct threat to Russia. It also sees it as part of a broader strategy of the West to move into its traditional sphere of influence in central and Eastern Europe. During the visit scheduled for May 14-15, Rice and Russian officials are due to discuss the missile defense plans, "the situation on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty," as well as "bilateral ties," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said this week. The reference to the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty was seen as significant, because President Vladimir Putin recently said his government would freeze its compliance with the treaty until all NATO countries have ratified it. The treaty restricted the amount of military equipment - including tanks, artillery and aircraft - that NATO and the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies were allowed to maintain. A modified version of the treaty following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact has not been ratified by NATO member-states, in part because of a dispute over the ongoing presence of Russian forces in Moldova and Georgia. NATO voiced concern about Putin's threat, saying the CFE treaty is viewed as one of the "cornerstones" of European security. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow last month and was faced with strong opposition to the U.S. plan to deploy elements of the defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. The Kremlin claims the missile shield is not aimed at Iran or North Korea - as Washington maintains - but at Russia. Moscow also argues that the U.S. could use the associated radar system to spy on Russia, and that offensive missiles could eventually be deployed in the Polish silos. Russia continues to warn about "counter-measures." "If we see that a threat is coming from the facilities that could be created in Europe, we will definitely plan action against them," General Staff Chief Yury Baluyevsky said this week. Putin went as far as appearing to compare U.S. foreign policy with that of the Third Reich. In a speech Wednesday commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, he said, "We do not have the right to ignore the causes of any war, which must be found in the mistakes and blunders of peacetime." "As during the time of the Third Reich," Putin said, these new causes are grounded in the "similar contempt for human life and the similar claims of superiority and dominant position in the world." He did not identify the U.S., but given his criticism, few here had any doubts about at least one of the targets of the remarks. Following the official Kremlin line, many Russians are also suspicious of the plans. In a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, 74 percent of respondents had a negative view of the missile shield, and nearly 70 percent said it would threaten Russia. Despite the rhetoric, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ruled out any kind of confrontation with the U.S. over the missile shield plans. In a speech broadcast by video link from Moscow during a conference at the German foreign ministry, he said, "We strongly reject confrontation with the United States and we'll continue our dialogue and expand cooperation where our interests coincide, while frankly explaining the inadmissibility of unilateral destabilizing actions." Lavrov also said Russia would not allow the situation to place it "at odds with the Europeans." 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