ULAN BATOR. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A plan to deploy a Russian-U.S. station for controlling missile launches remains under development, General Staff Chief Nikolai Makarov said on Wednesday.
Russia and the United Sates are bound by a military cooperation agreement, Makarov told the media.
"We are negotiating a plan to deploy a joint station to control missile launches, to notify each other and, should any undeclared launches be carried out, to inform each other on the characteristics of the launch in order to protect our countries from accidents and emergencies," Makarov said.
This issue is not new and it was raised back in 2000, he said.
The countries are currently negotiating the location of the stations that would suit both sides, Makarov said.
"We have not come to term on the timeframe. First comes the place and then comes the time," he said.
Makarov confirmed that Moscow was being considered as a possible site.
On the whole, "the program for the next year will be very busy in terms of talks between the general staffs and along the lines of other military agencies, which reflects the need to develop trust between the states, especially concerning the Russian and U.S armed forces' activities," he said.
"This also has to do with submarines' patrolling missions and the presence of ships in the oceans, he added.
"The tasks we have set are expected to give us security guarantees and to lift mutual suspicions we have had in recent years," the general said.