Published: 23 November, 2011, 18:14
Edited: 24 November, 2011,
06:49
Iskander missile (RIA Novosti / Aleksey Danichev)
Russia proceeds
from the necessity to maintain its strategic defense potential,
says Russia’s Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin.
Russia’s primary
interest is in protecting its citizens, says the NATO
envoy.
“We cannot afford to trade on the security of our
citizens,” Rogozin said. “So if anyone
puts an eye on it or casts a doubt on it, counter measures should
certainly be worked out. And today the president named those
measures.”
Rogozin went on to
predict that there would be some tough talking during the
forthcoming meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on December 8.
“Our
colleagues from NATO will have to respond to the question: Why, if
you call Russia a partner, are you building the potential to
undermine Russia’s security?”
Meanwhile, former
commander of the missile attack prevention army Lt. Gen. Nikolay
Rodionov said the measures voiced by President Medvedev are capable
of neutralizing the threats resulting from the deployment of the
American missile defense system, told Interfax.
These
measures “are aimed at wrecking the US plans to
strike Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles deployed in the
European parts of the country,” he said. “At the same it, it is a signal to our western partners to do
everything possible in order to avoid a new arms race, which is
inevitable given the implementation of US missile defense
plans.”
Rodionov noted
that when speaking about the deployment of strike systems in
Russia’s west and south, Medvedev “undoubtedly” meant Iskander
missile systems – “a high-precision weapon” which
is “practically invulnerable to air defense systems.”
Finally,
commenting on President Medvedev’s statements, NATO’s official
representative in Russia, Oana Lungescu, said that the alliance’s
proposal to discuss ways of cooperation in the AMD issue remains in
force.
However, President
Medvedev’s announcement does not mark the end of the so-called
“reset” in Russia-US relations, believes the chairman of the
Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, Mikhail
Margelov.
“I
can state this as a participant of the meeting between the [Russian
and US] presidents in Honolulu,” he told
Interfax.
“The
president has presented retaliatory steps which our country has to
make because of the US refusal to provide legally-binding
guarantees that the deployment of the American missile defense
shield in Europe will not be aimed against Russia,”Margelov
said.
The official noted
that that despite disagreements, the two countries are not enemies.
He observed that there have been differences in approaches when it
comes to security issues “even between closest
allies.”
America says it is
concerned with protecting its own homeland, yet it is deploying
missiles along the Russian border. According to political analyst
Igor Khokhlov, this policy of surrounding Russia and the former
Soviet Union with missile bases actually dates back to the 50s and
60s.
He added the
United States has pulled the rug out from under its European allies
by surrounding the Russian territory with missile bases.
“Russia has adequate responses, especially with its new
generation of missiles like Iskander, which can be put in Europe
and will endanger the European allies of the US. The European
allies of the US, who joined this program, are putting their own
populations at risk because before these events there was no danger
from Russia, and now Russia has a response to America putting its
missile bases around its territory,” he said.
Glyn Ford, a
former Member of the European Parliament, told RT Europe has an
obligation to moderate any US plans that fail to take account of
Russia’s genuine security concerns over the ABM project.
“I
think the European Union and the European members of NATO have a
responsibility to press the United States to actually try and come
to some accommodation with Russia on this matter. The two
things would be – either we do not deploy or we provide
information to Moscow that enables them to be assured that if you
want a change in the balance of forces, it is comparatively
small.”
Russian political
analyst Dmitry Babich told RT the timing of President Medvedev’s
statement was not accidental.
“There are several reasons why the statement was made now.
First, we should not forget that we are in the midst of an election
campaign right now in Russia and also the American electoral
campaign, so probably Russia could view this as the last moment
when something can be renegotiated on missile defense and on the
START treaty,” he stated.
According to
Babich, the Republican opposition in the US will push Obama to be
tougher on Russia.
“They
have already threatened to renegotiate the START treaty. They think
that it is too beneficial for Russia, though I would argue that it
is correct,” he added.
http://rt.com/politics/ballistic-russia-strikes-missile-041/