Russia is disappointed about the results of the last round of
missile defense talks with the United States in Budapest Thursday,
a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official told a press conference
Saturday.
"At the present time, the outcomes of this conversation are
discouraging," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak was quoted by
the Interfax news agency as saying.
Russia hopes that this dialogue, which is being maintained on
instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US
counterpart George W. Bush, would help the two countries "progress
in search of common ground in settling problems of missile
technology proliferation, preventing threats, and monitoring these
threats, so that this should meet the interests of security for
all," Kislyak said.
At an October meeting in the "two-plus-two" format joined by
defense and foreign ministers of the two countries in Moscow,
Russia and the United States failed to reach any agreement on
missile defense in Europe, but made a decision to continue
discussions at an expert level.
Moscow strongly opposes Washington's ABM system plans, which
consist of a radar station in the Czech Republic and interceptor
missiles in Poland, saying they will pose a threat to its national
security.
Washington has insisted that the missile shield is intended to
stave off the threat of attacks from what it calls "rogue
states."
(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2007)
