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Putin denounces US plan for
missile shield
Ian Traynor
London
Guardian
Thursday May 24, 2007
President Vladimir Putin travelled to the heart of Europe yesterday
to denounce the Bush administration's plans to deploy a missile
defence shield in the region.
In his fourth anti-US salvo in as many months, the Russian leader
took the floor in Vienna's Hofburg Palace, former seat of Austro-Hungarian
emperors, to ask why the Americans were threatening the peace of
central Europe by putting new radars and a silo of missile defence
rockets in the Czech Republic and Poland.
"What is happening in Europe that is so negative that we need
to fill eastern Europe with new forms of weapons?" he asked.
"What has happened that has worsened the situation in Europe
and demands such actions? Nothing."
The Russian leader's uncompromising opposition to the Pentagon's
plans to install elements of its missile shield project in central
Europe followed a frosty summit last week with EU leaders, unproductive
talks with Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Britain's
indictment on Tuesday of an ex-KGB officer, Andrei Lugovoy, for
the London murder of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB agent and
fierce critic of Mr Putin.
Relations between Russia and the west are at their lowest ebb for
20 years, and senior European and Nato officials expect no let-up
in the confrontational rhetoric from Moscow until Mr Putin's eight-year
presidency comes to an end next year and the power struggle for
the succession is resolved.
While Mr Putin denounced the Americans in Vienna, a principal contender
to succeed him, Sergei Ivanov, argued that the US radar station
planned for the Czech Republic would be able to spy deep into Russia.
Mr Ivanov, a deputy prime minister, former defence minister, and,
like Mr Putin, a KGB veteran, dismissed the US's insistence that
the missile shield elements are to counter Iranian ballistic missiles,
and not Russia's.
"The radar the US is planning to deploy in the Czech Republic
will be capable of scanning air space up to the Ural mountains,"
he said. Reiterating warnings of retaliation, he added: "A
more efficient sword can be found for every shield."
Mr Putin's performance in Vienna appeared to be part of a campaign
to win over European public opinion against the Pentagon project
in Europe. The Americans are engaged in a parallel effort, dispatching
senior officials and officers to Europe and to Russia in recent
weeks on a charm offensive.
The Kremlin is currently embroiled in a series of disputes with
countries it used to control on its borders - from Estonia in the
north to Georgia in the south. All the border countries perceive
Mr Putin's Russia as a bully and are eager to attract US support
and cover.
Mr Ivanov yesterday accused them of trying to construct a "cordon
sanitaire" around Russia. "They are hurting their own
interests and splitting their own societies," he warned. But
the harsh rhetoric from the Kremlin since February has only strengthened
the resolve of the Polish and Czech governments to host the missile
shield bases. The Polish government said this week that the silo
of anti-missile rockets should be installed within five years.
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