MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and the United States will continue talks on plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe, Deputy Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov said.
"We will continue our dialog on all of the issues linked to Europe's missile defense. Our door has not been closed. We are ready for dialog," Gerasimov said at a conference with foreign military officials in Moscow on Friday.
The U.S. is creating a missile defense system in Europe as an element of its global missile defense shield, independent of agreements earlier reached by Russia and the U.S. on this issue, he said.
Russia has proposed putting individual countries in charge of various missile defense sectors, Gerasimov said.
"Russia treats the creation of the pan-European missile defense shield very seriously," he said.
However, this project should be tackled in light of the general political situation around the world, as well as depending on the possession of missile technologies by different countries, Gerasimov said.
"Individual states are seeking to gain missile technologies, while some countries have already done it," he said.