Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

RT
Aplril 23, 2013

Russia has started design works to create a new railroad-based missile system to replace weapons destroyed in the mid-2000s under the old START treaty and are now allowed by the “New START”.

The design bureau that developed Russia’s most modern ballistic missiles the Bulava, Topol and Yars, has started research and development of the new project – the railway car based ICBM – Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told the press on Tuesday.

Currently work is at a primary stage and does not require significant investment. The overall costs to design a completely new railway-based missile has not yet been determined, he added.

If complete and launched into production, the missile would replace the RT-24 system, also known as SS-24 Scalpel – the intercontinental weapon disguised as an ordinary freight train, which made its detection and preemptive destruction extremely difficult.

Russia decommissioned its railway car based missiles in 2005 and destroyed all the systems by 2007 as part of the START II treaty on nuclear arms reduction with the US. The ‘New START’ treaty (which is also called START III in Russia) that came into force in 2011 does not limit the use of railway car based systems and allows Russia to restart production. …

Read on: http://rt.com/politics/redesigns-missiles-railway-based-soviet-era-243/

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RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
April 23, 2013

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that the latest meeting of the NATO-Russia Council “maintained an active dialogue” but did not make significant progress on the key issue of missile defense.

NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels on April 23 and were joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov said Moscow was studying changes to the U.S. missile-defense program, but still wanted guarantees that the system would not be used against Russia.

The NATO ministers earlier discussed the situation in Syria, and Rasmussen said the alliance was committed to protecting all of its members, including Turkey.

Rasmussen said NATO was “extremely concerned” about the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Lavrov said any reports that chemical weapons have been used in Syria should be investigated carefully, noting that prior allegations were proven wrong.

Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the meeting.

Those talks were expected to focus on Syria, in the wake of Kerry’s recent visit to the Middle East. …

Read on: www.rferl.org/content/nato-foreign-ministers-meeting/24965761.html

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The Moscow Times
April 17, 2013

In an apparent reversal, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said a proposed U.S. missile shield posed no threat to Russia and could easily be penetrated by Russian forces, RIA-Novosti reported Tuesday.

“We have solved the issue of penetrating the missile shield,” Rogozin was quoted as saying in a speech at the Russian Embassy in London.

“We regret that the United States is wasting their money on missile defense and compelling us to do the same. The missile shield is nothing for us, it’s a bluff. It poses no military threat, but remains a political and economic problem,” he said.

The remarks by Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s military-industrial complex, could signal a turning point in Russian criticism of U.S. missile defense plans. Russia repeatedly has denounced the Europe-based shield as an attempt to undermine its national security, and it has spent months trying to convince the U.S. and its allies in NATO to allow it to participate in the plans. …

Read on: www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/rogozin-says-us-missile-defense-no-longer-a-threat/478706.html

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Daily News & Analysis
By Bruno Waterfield (Daily Telegraph)
May 4, 2012

Russia has threatened Nato with military strikes in Poland and Romania if a missile defence radar and interceptors are deployed in Eastern Europe.

General Nikolai Makarov, Russia’s most senior military commander, warned Nato that if it proceeded with an American missile defence system, force would be used against it.

“A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” he said.

General Makarov has threatened to target Nato bases hosting an anti-missile system designed by the US to protect European allies against attack from states such as Iran.

He said that Russia would counter Nato deployment by stationing short-range Iskander missiles in the Russian Kaliningrad enclave near Poland, creating the worst military tensions since the Cold War. …

Read on: www.dnaindia.com/world/report_russia-threatens-to-strike-at-nato-missile-defence-bases_1684335

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Itar Tass
March 23, 2012

A Russia-NATO summit, which was scheduled in May, is cancelled. According to the official version, the summit was cancelled over “an intensive domestic political calendar in Russia.” However, the experts believe that this step is caused by disagreements of the parties concerned over the European missile defence system.

The Russia-NATO summit has stalled over the European missile defence system, the Kommersant daily reported. Experts noted that the decision to cancel a May meeting between Vladimir Putin and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is linked with the disagreement over the vital issue. This is the missile defence system in Europe. The Russia-NATO summit was scheduled in Chicago in May, the newspaper recalled. However, the NATO general secretary stated that the summit will not be held at the scheduled time. He called as the reason “an intensive domestic political calendar in Russia.” The negotiators have nothing to say to each other, this is why the summit was postponed, director of the Institute of Strategic Planning and Forecasting Alexander Gusev noted.

“The postponement of the Russia-NATO summit is certainly linked with a quite serious political situation, primarily in Europe, over the deployment of the European missile defence along the borders with Russia. The question was certainly not settled. This primarily concerns relations between Russia and the EU states, so, the places, where the European missile defence systems will be deployed,” he noted. “I would like the summit to be held. All parties are interested in this, namely the United States, the NATO leadership, the EU states and Russia in the same way.”

Read on: www.itar-tass.com/c142/373668.html

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RIANOVOSTY
March 6, 2012

The Russian president is unlikely to attend a NATO summit in Chicago if the missile defense issue is not on its agenda

The Russian president is unlikely to attend a NATO summit in Chicago if the missile defense issue is not on its agenda, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday.

“Russia has an invitation to the NATO summit; everything depends on the agenda,” he said.

However, if the issue of the NATO missile defense system remains unchanged, then the chances of the Russian president attending the summit “will be even smaller,” he added. …

Read on: en.rian.ru/world/20120306/171790591.html

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RT
March 14, 2012

American authorities could soon be sharing classified data on their missile defense system with Russia in an effort to recruit their former Cold War foe to prepare against possible rocket strikes.

Officials from within the White House tell reporters this week that Washington is considering talks with Moscow that could lead to both nations exchanging top-secret intelligence involving their respective missile-defense systems. Responding to an inquiry on the talks, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday that the Obama administration is indeed looking to iron out a deal with Russia that would satisfy the desires of both nations.

Sharing missile defense data has been a sticking point between the two major nuclear superpowers since the US announced plans to build an anti-missile shield in Europe. Even after both parties agreed to cooperate on anti-missile defense, Moscow and Washington have been at odds over if and how their respective anti-missile programs should be managed jointly. Russia has asked for the United States’ cooperation by insisting that the missile defense systems of the countries be united into one global program; the US, on the other hand, has favored separate programs, although they have at the same time advocated for establishing a working relationship between the two. Should these developments prove true then, the US and Russia could soon ink out a deal that would see Washington siding with Moscow’s demands.

According to the latest reports, the US could be extending to Russia some top-secret intelligence on American interceptor missiles; in return, Russia might very well contribute assistance of their own by offering access to its own radar system and missile-defense program. …

Read on: http://rt.com/usa/news/obama-share-missile-russia-561/

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RIA Novosti
January 20, 2012

The United States and its NATO allies already have about one thousand missiles capable of intercepting Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Russian deputy premier in charge of defense said.

“Along with its allies, whom the U.S. now persuades to buy ships equipped with the Aegis Combat System, the overall potential can be estimated at about 1,000 interceptor missiles,” Dmitry Rogozin [Deputy Prime Minister] who is also the Russian president’s special representative for talks with NATO, said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

He said that the figure is currently approaching the limits established by the recently signed Russia-U.S. strategic arms reduction treaty.

“There are no guarantees that after the first, second, and third phases [of the U.S. missile shield project] are completed, there will be no fourth, fifth and sixth. Do you really think they will halt all their technologies after 2020? That’s nonsense! …”

He said that U.S. interceptor missiles cover all European Russia to the Urals Mountains, and are capable of hitting not only small and medium-range missiles of “rogue states,” but also intercontinental ballistic missiles of Russia’s armed forces.

“The fact that the missile defense system can hit strategic missiles and the fact that those bases and fleet are deployed in northern seas demonstrate the evident… anti-Russian nature of the [U.S.] missile defense,” Rogozin said. …

Read in full: http://en.ria.ru/world/20120120/170856516.html

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The Wall Street Journal
By Marcin Sobczyk
January 12, 2012

The U.S. will likely keep its commitment to place missile interceptors in Poland to counter a military threat from Iran regardless of any opposition from Russia and despite defense cutbacks, a U.S. senator said Thursday.

U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009 scrapped the missile-defense plan drafted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, under which Poland would host a base near its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The U.S. later proposed a new system envisaging 24 interceptors in Poland at the same location.

“Indications are that despite defense cutbacks, we’re going to maintain the commitment to build the Polish missile-defense system, and that is because the threat from Iran is growing, it’s clear that Iran’s nuclear programs are accelerating,” Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk told reporters in Warsaw.

“My hope is that we stay on schedule for a 2018 full operational capability of 24 interceptors at Redzikowo to defend NATO and the United States,” he added. “The Russians have been pretty hostile to missile defense. They say that in some way this threatens their nuclear deterrents, but we’re going to build only 24 interceptors in Poland and last I checked Russia has more than 24 nuclear weapons. … We need to defend a free, sovereign and independent Poland regardless of what Russia thinks.” …

Read on: blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2012/01/12/u-s-likely-to-press-on-with-missile-defense-in-poland/

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RIA Novosti
December 22, 2011

Russia is ready for constructive dialogue on missile defense with its Western partners but hopes for give and take, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

“I only want to confirm that we are open for constructive dialogue and substantive work with our partners, if they learn to listen to us,” Medvedev said in his final state-of-the-nation address before he steps down next year.

“We count on reciprocity in order to reach mutually acceptable solutions as soon as possible and to maintain an atmosphere of trust.”

Russia-NATO missile defense talks have stalled as Moscow is seeking legally binding guarantees that the U.S.-backed European missile defense program will not be directed against it.

Washington, however, refuses to provide the guarantees, saying the shield is directed against rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. …

http://en.ria.ru/world/20111222/170426656.html

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