MOSCOW. July 3 (Interfax-AVN) - President Vladimir Putin's new missile defense initiatives can be put into life only if the proposed plan to set up a third missile deployment area of the U.S. national missile defense system is dropped, a member of the Russian delegation to the recent Russian-American informal summit told Interfax.
"These proposals could only be implemented if the plan to build a third missile deployment area of the U.S. national missile defense system is discarded. Cooperation proposed by Russia also implies the reversal of the United Sates' plan to locate a strike missile grouping in outer space," the Russian expert said.
"The Russian proposals, if implemented, would make the deployment of missiles in the Kaliningrad region and in other Russian regions near to Europe redundant. Naturally, aiming Russian missiles against military targets in Central Europe would lose its meaning," he said.
Putin said at a final news conference following the talks with his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush in Kennebunkport, that Russia was prepared for expansion of the group of countries involved in the fight against global threats, with an emphasis on European countries.
The Russia-NATO Council is an ideal venue for such cooperation, the Russian president said.
Putin also proposed setting up a center for information exchanges on missile launches in Moscow, and another center in Europe, in Brussels, for instance.
The Russian president reiterated the proposal to use an early warning radar based in Gabala, Azerbaijan, and said this radar facility could be upgraded by Russia. In addition, Russia deems it possible to make use of a new radar facility, under construction in southern Russia [near Armavir,] in anti-missile cooperation.
"Naturally, joint work requires a common understanding of the present-day threat of missile technologies falling into the hands of terrorists and an agreement on an absolutely equitable access to information," the Russian expert said.
The Russian proposals, if implemented, would "lead to qualitative changes in Russia's relations with the U.S. and with other NATO members," he said.
These relations would give "cooperation a strongly therapeutic content, build up trust and strengthen internationals security," the Russian expert said.
"Without an exaggeration, this proposal is of historic significance, since it involves the formation of a joint missile defense system. Joint work to identify threats would make the fight against them effective. And joint access would inevitably encourage technology exchanges. All this could change the entire architecture of international relations for the better, and no one would recall the Cold War era again," he said.
"What is meant here is global strategic partnership. It's up to our American partners to make the choice," he expert said.