MOSCOW. Sept 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia does not plan to integrate the Gabala radar station in Azerbaijan into the U.S. global missile defense system, Maj. Gen. Alexander Yakushin, a first deputy chief of staff of the Russian Space Forces, said at a press conference in Moscow.
"We will not integrate the Gabala radar station into the U.S. missile defense system," Yakushin said.
The U.S. has already set up two missile defense centers in its own territory, which is absolutely legitimate on its part, he said.
However, the possible deployment of missile defense elements in East Europe would pose a serious threat to Russia's security, because it could be targeted against strategic forces stationed in the European part of Russia, Yakushin said. "Therefore, we will not join the U.S. missile defense system in this sense," he said.
"Our key goal is to prevent the deployment of missile defense infrastructure in the close vicinity of Russia's borders," Yakushin said.
If a political decision is made to jointly use the Gabala radar station, it will be used to monitor missile threats from the southern direction, Yakushin said.