Officials Cite Progress in Polish Missile Talks

After a second round of talks over deploying elements of a U.S. missile defense system in Poland, negotiators emerged optimistic that an agreement could be struck in coming months, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 14).

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Rood called the talks held Thursday in Warsaw “very constructive and fruitful.”

“This meeting today brings optimism to us because many of our observations and reflections are shared and were responded to by our American partners,” said Witold Waszczykowski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister (Vanessa Gera, Associated Press I/Forbes, May 25).

A third round of talks is scheduled for late June in Washington.

U.S. plans to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a powerful radar base Czech Republic has rankled Russia and strained bilateral relations with the United States.

Meanwhile, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev spoke yesterday on Moscow radio to suggest that Washington’s stated reasoning for the shield — to protect against Middle Eastern threats — was dubious.

“Moreover, it is being done somehow insinuatingly, without discussion.  Apparently it’s an attempt to use the superpower status to scare and pressure everyone to the left and to the right.”

Washington’s plans, he said, could spark an arms race with Russia and other nations (Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, May 24)

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