Russia Warns U.S. On Missile Defense

A top Russian general warned on Tuesday that the military will respond to U.S. missile defense plans with countermeasures, and said Washington's trust-building proposals have bogged down in diplomatic arguments.

Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Buzhinsky told reporters that Russia was thinking about "asymmetrical" steps if the United States deploys missile defense elements in Europe. He said Moscow has no intention of building a similar missile shield, but refused to elaborate on what specific measures the military might take.

Buzhinsky said Russia appreciated U.S. proposals intended to soothe Russian concerns, but added they were not enough to change Moscow's perception that the U.S. system would undermine its security.

Washington has promised to delay activating the planned new sites in Poland and the Czech Republic unless Iran proves itself an imminent threat to Europe. It also offered to let Russian officers monitor the sites to make sure they are not directed against Russia.

"We welcome these proposals as a step in the right direction, the acknowledgment that the Russian concerns are well-grounded," Buzhinsky, who heads the Defense Ministry's international cooperation department, said at a news conference. "But the United States needs to abandon its plans to deploy missile defense components in Europe if it wants to remove Russia's concerns."

He added that the U.S. trust-building measures lacked specifics and were "formulated in such a way that they could be canceled at any moment."

Washington suggested that Russia negotiate directly with Poland and the Czech Republic on giving Russian officers permanent access to the planned facilities, but Buzhinsky said the talks had stalled.

He dismissed Polish and Czech arguments that they could only let Russian officers in on the basis of reciprocity, saying that Russia has no similar facilities for them to monitor.

Buzhinsky said Russia did not ask the United States to allow Russian officers to monitor the prospective missile defense sites. "It was you who offered it to us, so why wouldn't you agree on that with your allies," he said.

He shrugged off U.S. assurances that a planned radar in the Czech Republic and a battery of 10 missile interceptors in Poland would pose no danger to huge Russian nuclear arsenals, and said that the U.S. would be able to expand the system quickly.

"New elements could be added to this small component, and we will have an entire web of anti-missile sites around our borders," Buzhinsky said.

He also said Russia remained concerned that the planned missile defense facilities could be converted to house offensive nuclear weapons. "Intermediate-range missiles capable of reaching the Moscow region within minutes could appear next to our border," Buzhinsky said.

Russia has cooperated with the EU nations in planning a more limited missile defense that would protect troops on joint peacekeeping missions. Buzhinsky said Russia would end this cooperation if the EU nations join in the U.S. missile defense shield.

Buzhinsky said Russia would respond to the U.S. missile defense plans without plunging into a new arms race.

"We are thinking about asymmetrical measures, we have them," Buzhinsky said, without explaining. "Naturally, we envisage possible retaliatory measures to minimize the risk for our security."

Russian officials have said that new Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missiles will be able to overcome any prospective missile defense.

Former President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia may point nuclear missiles at countries that accept U.S. missile defense components.

Putin offered the United States the use of a Soviet-built early-warning radar that Russia is leasing from Azerbaijan instead of the planned missile defense sites, but U.S. officials said it could not serve as an alternative.

Buzhinsky reaffirmed Tuesday that Putin's proposal was an alternative, not an addition to the U.S. plans. "Our sites will never be integrated into the U.S. facilities," he said.

Buzhinsky said Russia does not plan to strengthen the existing missile defense system protecting Moscow, which was developed in the 1970s.

That system was built in accordance with the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which allowed both the U.S. and the Soviet Union to have one area protected by missile defense. The United States withdrew from the treaty in 2002 in order to deploy a national missile defense shield.

"We have Moscow missile defense zone, and I'm unaware of any plans to expand it," Buzhinsky said.