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US Defence Chiefs Invite Russians For Talks On Missile Defense
Moscow (AFP) Feb. 20, 2001 US defence chiefs want Russia to join them in working on missile defence systems but have no plans to scrap preparations to build a national missile shield (NMD), a leading US Congressman said here Tuesday. Curt Weldon, heading an eight-member Congressional delegation visiting the Russian parliament, said he had brought a message from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the head of the US ballistic defence organisation Lieutenant-General Ronald Kadish for President Vladimir Putin. "That message was very clear that we're awaiting Russia's response to join with America in working on missile defence ... and we are anxiously awaiting Russia's positive response to working together," he told AFP. Weldon said he had also brought a message from President George W. Bush for Putin on unrelated issues, denying Russian media reports that it was specifically about NMD. He said he had not been able to deliver the Bush message "because President Putin cancelled the meeting." Asked if Washington might asked if USA would ditch NMD in favour of US-Russia defence system, Weldon said "we should talk about missile defence in general rather than get into the specifics. ... But we do want them to join together." Creating a US-Russian anti-missile system would be possible, Weldon said. "The appropriate thing would be for Russia to say, 'Let's work together', and then we establish the meetings and see if we can't find the common ground to build systems." This should not be an alternative to NMD, he stressed, though it could co-exist with NMD, or "be (part of) a layered approach." Earlier a Bush administration official in Columbus, Ohio, denied that Weldon was carrying a personal message from Bush to Putin. The Congressional delegation, comprising four Republicans and four Democrats, joined Russian members of the lower house of parliament (Duma) in a working group that discussed a variety issues, notably defence. The delegation was due to travel on to Moldova on Wednesday and Ukraine on Thursday before returning to Russia on Friday. All rights reserved. � 2001 Agence France-Presse. All information displayed on this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. CommunityEmail This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Military Space News at SpaceWar.com
Canada To Seek International Pact Banning Weapons In Space
Ottawa (AFP) Jan 11, 2006Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will seek an international pact to ban weapons in space if his Liberals are returned to power in a January 23 election, according to the party platform. |
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