Russia, U.S. fail to agree on missile defense guarantees RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED May 28, 2011 Russia and the United States have failed to agree a final draft on legally binding guarantees on missile defense, although they have made some progress on the issue, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday. "Substantive progress has been made, but it was not formalized in documentary form," Ryabkov said, commenting on Thursday's meeting between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Deauville, France. Moscow has been concerned by a U.S. reluctance to provide guarantees that its European missile defense system will not be directed against Russia. "We are ready for missile defense cooperation, we are ready to create joint systems, but we have yet to see whether our partners are ready for that," Ryabkov said. "We cannot base our security on promises." Medvedev warned last Wednesday that Russia would have to build up its nuclear capability if NATO and the United States failed to reach an agreement with Moscow on European missile defense cooperation. Moscow has warned it might pull out of the new START Treaty. Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile shield during the NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon in November 2010. NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system. Russia is opposed to the planned deployment of U.S. missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be a security threat. NATO and the United States insist that the shield would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran and would not be directed at Russia. Other news: U.S. lifts market restrictions against Rosatom Rosatom will no longer be required to get a special license from the U.S. Department of Commerce to cooperate with American companies. Russia lacks personnel to dismantle nuclear sites Russia is to decommission and dismantle 42 nuclear facilities by 2015 and 188 by 2020, Rosatom department head Yevgeny Komarov said. ARMZ acquires Australian uranium producer in $1.2 bln deal ARMZ will pay eight Australian dollars per share, which represents a 15.5 percent premium on the average market price for 20 trading days. |
Hero of the day Alexander Chistozvonov: end of the Romantic period Today, the army of managers is earnestly believing that one can take the man responsible for the licensing of alcoholic beverages, and put it on licensing, and even to supervise the nuclear reactor. INTERVIEW
Christophe Behar OPINION
Dmitry Kosyrev |