NATO to Invite Russia to Join Missile Shield

NATO planned Saturday to deliver a historic invitation for Russia to join a missile shield protecting Europe against Iranian attack, a milestone for an alliance that was built to defend against Soviet forces.

President Barack Obama won NATO support on Friday to build the missile shield over Europe, an ambitious commitment to protect against Iran's increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles and a nuclear program the West says is aimed at producing a bomb.

Two key unanswered questions about the missile shield - will it work and can the Europeans afford it? - were put aside for the present in the interest of celebrating the agreement as a boost for NATO solidarity.

"It offers a role for all of our allies," Mr. Obama told reporters. "It responds to the threats of our times. It shows our determination to protect our citizens from the threat of ballistic missiles." He did not mention Iran by name, acceding to the wishes of NATO member Turkey, which had threatened to block the deal if its neighbor was singled out.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday that NATO met his nation's demands and that the agreement "was within the framework of what we wished. We are pleased about this."

Under the arrangement, a limited system of U.S. anti-missile interceptors and radars already planned for Europe - to include interceptors in Romania and Poland and possibly radar in Turkey - would be linked to expanded European-owned missile defenses. That would create a broad system that protects every NATO country against medium-range missile attack.

NATO plans to invite Russia to join at a meeting of NATO's 28 leaders with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Moscow would not be given joint control, but the gesture would mark a sea change for a partnership created after World War II to defend Western Europe against the threat of an invasion by the Soviets.

The allies opened their summit by agreeing on the first rewrite of NATO's basic mission - formally called its "strategic concept" - since 1999. They reaffirmed their bedrock commitment that an attack on one would be treated as an attack on all. In that context, the agreement to build a missile defense for all of Europe is meant to strengthen the alliance.

What remains in conflict, however, is the question of the future role of nuclear weapons in NATO's basic strategy. The document members agreed to on Friday says NATO will retain an "appropriate mix of nuclear and conventional capabilities" to deter a potential aggressor. Germany and some other NATO members want U.S. nuclear weapons withdrawn from Europe.

On the topic of a U.S.-Russia arms treaty, Obama was backed by NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who told reporters that the treaty, called New START and signed in April by Obama and Medvedev, would improve security not only in Europe but beyond.

NATO and Moscow also were expected to sign agreements to expand the alliance's supply routes to Afghanistan through Russia; set up a new training program in Russia for counter-narcotics agents from Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries; and agree on a program to provide training to Afghan helicopter crews.