14.10.2011 14:20
Michael McFaul, Barack Obama's nominee for US ambassador to Russia, released the statements, which destroyed the last hope for the possibility of diplomatic maneuvers at the US-Russian talks, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta wrote. McFaul virtually accused Russia of blackmail and acknowledged that the talks on missile defense reached a deadlock.The tone of the new ambassador can be explained with the strong political pressure, which the Obama administration has to deal with when discussing the issues related to Russia.
It is obvious that the Americans intend to build the missile defense system and they are not going to ask Russia's opinion about it. Russian defense officials acknowledged the failure of the negotiations with the United States at the end of September. The Russian officials said that Washington simply ignores Russia's concerns and continues to build the missile defense system.
Thus, the USA has refused to provide any legal guarantees to Russia saying that its missile defense system would not target the Russian territory.
Obama's nominee for US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, said during his speech at the Congress that the United States could not accept Russia's requirements in the talks. Therefore, it is impossible for the two countries to conduct the dialogue on such a sensitive issue as missile defense.
According to McFaul, the talks have come to a deadlock because Russia is asking for a legally binding agreement from the USA saying that the missile defense system will not undermine the Russian potential of strategic deterrence. McFaul acknowledged that the discrepancies make it impossible to discuss anything during the Russia-NATO summit, which is to take place next year in May.
Russia's Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, stated that Russia would not be able to discuss USA's suggestions if such fundamental questions as missile defense remain unsolved. In this case, the official added, Russia will have to take countermeasures to guarantee its own security, Interfax said.
The USA has practically finished the first stage of Obama's European plan. America has deployed the sea-based missile defense system near European shores. The Aegis system with SM-3 interceptor missiles are capable of destroying the ballistic missiles with the range from 3,000 to 5,000 kilometers.
In September, Washington signed the missile defense agreement with Turkey and Romania. The US-Polish agreements about the deployment of the army base near Russia's borders in the Kaliningrad enclave also came into effect.
Russia has been criticizing all actions, which the USA has taken so far to build the missile defense system in Europe. Moscow was particularly concerned about Washington's agreement with Madrid to deploy four US vessels outfitted with SM-3 interceptor missiles in the south of Spain. Official spokesmen for Russia's Foreign Ministry claimed that the USA's accomplished facts practice was unacceptable.
