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2 June 2007 |
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http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/... |
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See also: other related news items. Berlin - Russia will be forced to react to US plans to station elements of its missile defence shield in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview published Saturday by the German news magazine Der Spiegel. Speaking to the same magazine, the general heading the US Missile Defence Agency, Henry Obering, repeated an offer to share technology with the Russians and to station missiles in Russia. 'The strategic balance in the world will be disturbed,' Putin said. 'To restore it we will have to create a system to overcome these American weapons.' The Russian president said that the missiles - to be based in Poland along with a radar station in the Czech Republic - would be automatically linked to the US nuclear arsenal. 'For the first time in history, components of the US nuclear system will arise on the European continent. That changes the whole configuration of international security,' he said. Putin added that the defence system, set to be in place in around five years, would create only an 'illusion' of security, but actually increase the risk of nuclear conflict. And he repeated that the shield was aimed at a threat that did not exist. Obering said security estimates were that Iran would be able to threaten the US with long-range missiles at some point between 2010 and 2015. He added that Iran and North Korea - the two states the US says it needs to counter - were cooperating on missile technology. 'I believe that Iran will pursue a very aggressive development and test programme,' the general said. Obering rejected the argument that the US nuclear arsenal would deter any aggressor. Sketching the possibility of rogue generals taking over in Iran or of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il losing his mind, he said: 'In the 21st century one has to reckon with organizations and states that cannot be deterred.' Obering repeated the US offer to share resources with Russia. 'I believe it would make real sense to combine American and Russian technology. 'If we were to combine with Russia to set up a common defence system to make these weapons basically unusable, that would be a perfect goal,' Obering said. |
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