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11. 7. 2008
Russia on the signing of the Czech-US treaty on missile defenceStatement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Concerning the Signing of the US-Czech Agreement on Deployment of Elements of the US Global Missile Defense System on the Territory of the Czech Republic |
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATIONINFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT32/34 Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl., 119200, Moscow G-200; tel.: (495) 244 4119, fax: 244 4112 e-mail: dip@mid.ru, web-address: www.mid.ru Statement of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Concerning the Signing of the US-Czech Agreement on Deployment of Elements of the US Global Missile Defense System on the Territory of the Czech Republic 1004-08-07-2008 The signing of the agreement per se had been announced in advance and did not come as a surprise to us. On the pretext of an imaginary Iranian missile threat, the current US administration has been stubbornly pursuing a line on deploying a third GMD missile defense site in Europe. It is noteworthy that all this is happening against the background of serious contradictions in Czech society and, of course, does not add to the security of either the Czech Republic or Europe as a whole. The position of Russia on this issue is well known: we are against this US project for the third GMD site capable of undermining stability and security not only Europe-wide, but on a global scale as well. It is disappointing that our alternative, i.e. the building of a truly collective security system against missile threats, has in fact been ignored. All our arguments had merely been heard out but by no means taken into account. If the agreement with the United States, subject to ratification in the Czech parliament, does acquire a legally binding character and the real deployment of the US strategic missile defense system begins near our borders, then we will have to respond using not diplomatic but military-technological methods. There is no doubt that the setting of elements of the US strategic arsenal in place close to the Russian territory could be used to weaken the potential of our deterrent. It is understandable that the Russian side in such circumstances will take adequate measures to compensate for the emerging potential of threats to its national security. But this is not our choice. In addition, it is regrettable that, despite a number of contacts held, at the highest level in particular, during which the ideas of the US side were discussed as to the guarantees that the third GMD site would actually not be used against Russia, we have to state that no real progress has been observed. On the contrary, the transparency and control measures we had proposed, which could somehow have reduced Russian fears, were called off by the US side, thus undermining the relevant accord of the Russian and US presidents, confirmed in the Declaration they adopted at Sochi on April 6, 2008. We will closely follow the development of events while remaining open for constructive discussion, on missile defenses as well as in regard to the whole range of strategic stability issues, but solely on an equal basis. Of course, in any development of the situation we will proceed from the necessity of ensuring the proper security of our own state. July 8, 2008 |
