Taco John
02-12-2008, 12:41 PM
Russia in Ukraine missile threat
Russia has said it may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins Nato and accepts the deployment of the US missile defence shield.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the comments in Moscow alongside Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko.
Mr Putin has condemned US plans to include Poland and the Czech Republic in its missile defence shield.
The leaders had been meeting in urgent talks over a gas dispute and announced a deal to avoid disrupting supplies.
'Scary'
Speaking at a news conference at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Mr Putin said he had advised Ukraine not to join Nato, but admitted he would be unable to interfere in any such move.
"Joining such a bloc means a country restricting its own sovereignty," he warned.
When asked about the consequences of Ukraine gaining Nato membership, Mr Putin said Russia was concerned that its neighbour would agree to host parts of the US missile defence shield on its territory.
The US wants the shield to destroy incoming ballistic missiles potentially coming from North Korea and Iran. Plans would currently see some interceptor missiles being based in Poland and an associated radar being built in the Czech Republic.
"I am not only terrified to utter this, it is scary even to think that Russia, in response to a possible deployment of... [parts of the] missile shield in Ukraine... would have to target its offensive rocket systems at Ukraine," he said.
"The goal [of the missile shield] is to neutralise our nuclear capabilities... This would prompt Russia to take retaliatory action," he added.
In a televised speech to the Russian State Council last week, Mr Putin had warned that a "new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world".
He said other countries were spending far more than Russia on new weapons, but that it would respond to the challenges of an arms race by developing hi-tech weaponry.
Nato invitation
On the gas dispute, Ukraine agreed to start repaying $1.5bn (£770m) owed to the Russian gas company, Gazprom, from Thursday. In return, Russia is reported to have agreed to freeze the price of gas exports to Ukraine at last year's level.
The dispute had raised concerns in European countries, which experienced disruption to their gas supplies as the result of a similar dispute two years ago.
Separately on Tuesday, Russia's foreign minister said Mr Putin had accepted an invitation to attend the forthcoming Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, in April.
Mr Putin will no longer be Russian president in April. Elections for his successor will be held next month.
"This yet again testifies to the fact that Russia is open to dialogue on any issues," Sergei Lavrov told reporters while attending the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
At the conference, Russia and China proposed a new treaty to ban the use of weapons in space and the use or threat of force against satellites or other craft.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7241470.stm
Russia has said it may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins Nato and accepts the deployment of the US missile defence shield.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the comments in Moscow alongside Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko.
Mr Putin has condemned US plans to include Poland and the Czech Republic in its missile defence shield.
The leaders had been meeting in urgent talks over a gas dispute and announced a deal to avoid disrupting supplies.
'Scary'
Speaking at a news conference at the Kremlin on Tuesday, Mr Putin said he had advised Ukraine not to join Nato, but admitted he would be unable to interfere in any such move.
"Joining such a bloc means a country restricting its own sovereignty," he warned.
When asked about the consequences of Ukraine gaining Nato membership, Mr Putin said Russia was concerned that its neighbour would agree to host parts of the US missile defence shield on its territory.
The US wants the shield to destroy incoming ballistic missiles potentially coming from North Korea and Iran. Plans would currently see some interceptor missiles being based in Poland and an associated radar being built in the Czech Republic.
"I am not only terrified to utter this, it is scary even to think that Russia, in response to a possible deployment of... [parts of the] missile shield in Ukraine... would have to target its offensive rocket systems at Ukraine," he said.
"The goal [of the missile shield] is to neutralise our nuclear capabilities... This would prompt Russia to take retaliatory action," he added.
In a televised speech to the Russian State Council last week, Mr Putin had warned that a "new phase in the arms race is unfolding in the world".
He said other countries were spending far more than Russia on new weapons, but that it would respond to the challenges of an arms race by developing hi-tech weaponry.
Nato invitation
On the gas dispute, Ukraine agreed to start repaying $1.5bn (£770m) owed to the Russian gas company, Gazprom, from Thursday. In return, Russia is reported to have agreed to freeze the price of gas exports to Ukraine at last year's level.
The dispute had raised concerns in European countries, which experienced disruption to their gas supplies as the result of a similar dispute two years ago.
Separately on Tuesday, Russia's foreign minister said Mr Putin had accepted an invitation to attend the forthcoming Nato summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, in April.
Mr Putin will no longer be Russian president in April. Elections for his successor will be held next month.
"This yet again testifies to the fact that Russia is open to dialogue on any issues," Sergei Lavrov told reporters while attending the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
At the conference, Russia and China proposed a new treaty to ban the use of weapons in space and the use or threat of force against satellites or other craft.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7241470.stm