Russia has offered a concrete replacement for the US plan for a
missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Instead, Moscow proposes
joint usage of the Gabala radar station with the US or with both
the US and Azerbaijan, the Russian defense minister's adviser
Ilshat Baichurin said on Wednesday.
"Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said during today's
meeting with Azeri counterpart Safar Abiyev that Russia is ready to
operate the Gabala radar station in either bilateral and trilateral
formats," Baichurin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as
saying.
Abiyev immediately confirmed that Azerbaijan would be ready to
cooperate in such a plan, adding that the Gabala radar was on Azeri
soil and that the country should be a party to Russia-US
negotiations thereupon.
The proposal was initially floated by President Vladimir Putin
on June 7 at the G8 summit, in a bid to end disputes over the US'
controversial plan to install a missile defense shield in Poland
and the Czech Republic.
President Bush described the idea as "interesting" and a
bilateral working group has been formed to discuss cooperation in
this area. However, no direct negotiations have started about the
Gabala radar.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)
