Russia Complains of U.S. Missile Defense Plans

Russia has renewed its criticism of U.S. plans to deploy missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, saying Moscow would be forced to enhance its own missile systems to ensure they could not be shot down by U.S. interceptors (see GSN, Nov. 2).

“The deployment of missile defenses in Europe near Russian borders is an unfriendly move, to put it mildly,” Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian military’s general staff, said yesterday.  “Its interception range will cover a significant portion of the European part of Russia, and its integration with U.S. information resources will further strengthen the anti-Russian potential of this facility.”

The United States reportedly plans to deploy missile tracking radars and interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic.  It has argued the systems would be intended to shoot down missiles launched from North Korea and hostile Middle Eastern nations, such as Iran (see GSN, Sept. 21).

Baluyevsky warned that interceptor silos could also be used to house offensive missiles.

The missile defense installations would force Moscow “to search for countermeasures which would be asymmetrical and clearly much cheaper,” he said (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 13).

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