Russia proposes European missile plan

MOSCOW, Russia -- Plans for a European anti-missile defence system have been presented to NATO by Russia.

Visiting NATO Secretary General George Robertson was handed the proposal on Tuesday, which Moscow sees as an alternative to the controversial U.S. National Missile Defence (NMD) system.

Russia has been alarmed by U.S. plans to push ahead with NMD, which Moscow believes would undermine the cornerstone 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty (ABM) and trigger a new arms race.

"The priority for us is to achieve a common understanding," Robertson told Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev at the start of a day of talks with top Russian officials due to culminate in the opening of a NATO information office in Moscow.

RESOURCES Q&A: US National Missile Defence How the proposed missile system would work Text of the ABM Treaty     AUDIO CNN's Jill Dougherty: A radical departure from the US system 462kb/42sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Sergeyev put forward plans for a commission of experts to devise the creation of an anti-missile defence system comprised of mobile units that could counter any missile threats facing Europe.

Late last year, President Vladimir Putin proposed an alternative "non-strategic" defence system, which in his opinion could head off potential attacks from "rogue states" like Iraq, Iran and North Korea, without undermining existing disarmament pacts.

Moscow's proposals have been received sceptically in Washington. But European members of NATO have urged the U.S. to consult with Russia and China, another strong opponent of NMD, before going ahead with the plan.

"We had a very good and useful meeting and I was very pleased to get the Russian proposal on missile defence," Robertson said after meeting Sergeyev.

"We will be discussing this matter at a briefing that the Russians will be giving in Brussels at a very early date."

Robertson's visit followed a week of alternating diplomacy and military action, which has intensified the debate on NMD.

A U.S. Congressional delegation led by Curt Weldon, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was also in Moscow to discuss arms issues.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted Weldon as saying he had brought a proposal from U.S. President George W. Bush for the joint development of a missile defence system.

Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov will meet U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell for the first time in Egypt this week for further talks on the subject.

Concern over NATO expansion

On his arrival in Moscow late on Monday, Robertson said he wanted to improve relations soured by NATO's military operation in Yugoslavia in 1999.

"NATO and Russia together are building a crisis-resistant relationship that will allow us to deal with the tricky issues as well as common issues at stake in the world today," he said.

Robertson was also due to meet Putin, Ivanov, Sergei Ivanov, secretary of the influential Security Council, and leaders of parliament, where anti-NATO sentiment is especially strong.

Russia also says it wants to improve relations, but Sergeyev made clear it had a range of unanswered questions.

"There are of course problems I would want to discuss with you," he told Robertson. "One of the most painful for Russia is NATO's expansion."

Moscow opposes NATO's plans to grant membership to more of its former Cold War allies in Eastern Europe, as well as possibly to the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which were once part of the Soviet Union.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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NATO
U.S National Missile Defence Programme
Russian Government

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