Russia, US clash over missile shield plan

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-31-2007 07:58

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses a press conference following the G8 Meeting of Foreign Ministers in Potsdam.(AFP/John MacDougall)

Russia's top diplomat is accusing the US of launching a new arms race by planning to set up an anti-missile shield along Russian borders.

But the US insists the system only aims to protect the area from potential attacks.

Current G8 President, Germany, hopes to avoid a showdown between the US and Russia at the G8 summit set to start next week in Heiligendamm. It's hoping to keep the focus on climate change and aid to Africa.

But it's becoming increasingly difficult to contain the continued dispute over US plans to install an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe.

Sergei Lavrov, Russian FM, said, "I don't think that for Russia this situation is trivial. I hope our American partners treat with respect our analysis, which we have, with the utmost detail and at the highest professional level, presented to them, and we would like to get an equally professional and substantial response."

But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Washington has repeatedly explained its plan in great detail to Russia.

Rice said, "And so I would hope that rather than continuing to worry about something that seems to us in fact just not at all possible, which is that, given the size of the Russian nuclear deterrent, that somehow this system is going to threaten the Russian nuclear deterrent."

US officials say the deployment of 10 intercepter missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic will protect Russia and the rest of Europe from potential attacks. But the Kremlin says such a system will threaten the balance of forces in Europe.

US President George W. Bush will meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at next week's summit. They will meet again in early July when they're expected to focus on plans for the anti-missile defense system.

Editor:Du Xiaodan