U.S., Poland Begin Missile Defense Talks

The first round of formal talks regarding deploying U.S. missile interceptors in Poland began today in Warsaw, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 10).

State Department senior adviser Robert Loftis was discussing the legal status of the proposed installation and its personnel with senior officials from the Polish Foreign and Defense ministries.

“There will be no decision taken today, because this is not the appropriate level,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Jaroslaw Rybak.

Higher-level meetings are scheduled for May 23 and 24 in Warsaw.  Officials then are expected to consider the “broader policy aspect” of an agreement on the interceptor base, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Andrew Schilling.

The talks today followed a meeting that finished Friday between U.S. and Czech Republic officials on possible placement of missile defense radars in that European nation, AP reported.  Loftis led the U.S. side for discussions of legal matters and details of a possible bilateral treaty for the radar base.  Talks between Prague and Washington are expected to resume later this month (Associated Press I/Forbes.com, May 14).

Meanwhile, NATO officials last week were unable to persuade a senior Russian military representative that there is value in placing missile defenses in Europe, AP reported.

Moscow has repeatedly said it considers the plan a threat to its strategic security.  Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky rejected the U.S. argument that the installations would provide a needed defense against Iranian missiles.

Iran “cannot be the reason for the deployment of the U.S. strategic elements,” said Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian general staff.  “What is being created is exactly what we moved away from 15 years ago with the end of the Cold War.”

He also questioned Washington’s pledge that only 10 interceptors would be deployed in Europe.

“Today 10, tomorrow 20?  Who can give us the guarantees?” he said.  “Nobody tells us how many interceptors there will be in 2020, or 2030” (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, May 10).

Despite the Russian rhetoric, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Friday that Moscow might be open to negotiations on missile defense, Reuters reported.

“They’re sending signals ‘negotiate with us,’ and we are naturally ready to negotiate,” he said (Louis Charbonneau, Reuters/Yahoo!News, May 11).

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