Russia threatens to suspend NATO cooperation

Moscow believes the US-Poland deal for a missile defense system makes it more vulnerable to a nuclear attack.

By Liam Stack

from the August 22, 2008 edition

The United States and Poland signed a deal in Warsaw on Wednesday to place 10 interceptor missiles on Polish territory as part of a wide-ranging missile defense system. The deal has angered Moscow, which believes that the missile-defense system increases its vulnerability to nuclear attack. In retaliation, Russia has threatened to withdraw its participation in joint military activities with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

American and Polish officials say the agreement, combined with a similar one signed with the Czech Republic last month, will protect against the threat of attack by rogue states such as Iran. Domestic critics of the deal say it is unworkable or too expensive, but Russia has emerged as the missile system's fiercest opponent.

Moscow has reacted angrily to the deal amid fears that the missile shield could one day grow powerful enough to neutralize its own weapons, making it more vulnerable to a nuclear attack, reports the Los Angeles Times.

After the deal was signed in Warsaw, Russian officials aired their concerns once more, emphasizing that the West's fears of Iran were unfounded, reports the BBC.

The Russian foreign ministry said the planned missile shield was aimed at weakening Moscow, describing it as part of "US efforts to change the strategic balance of power in its favour."

It said the shield was "one of the instruments in an extremely dangerous bundle of US military projects involving the one-sided development of a global anti-missile system."

The statement also dismissed US claims of a missile threat from Iran as "imaginary."

In response to the deal, Russia has threatened to target Poland with nuclear weapons. Speaking to Reuters in Warsaw, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced Russia's remarks about military action against Poland as "pathetic rhetoric," saying they "border on the bizarre."

"I hope that there are not people in Russia who are hankering for the days of U.S.-Soviet confrontation because they are over," Rice told journalists in Warsaw after signing an agreement to base 10 U.S. interceptor rockets in Poland. "The Cold War is over."

The night before the deal was signed, the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow received a tip from a "a well-placed official in the Russian Ministry of Defense" who wishes to remain anonymous, adds the Associated Press. The official said that Russia would imminently announce plans to suspend military cooperation with the NATO alliance. Word of the tip spread fast, taking Western governments by surprise and evoking images of the cloak-and-dagger days of cold war intrigue.

The Nordic country's embassy in Moscow received a telephone call from "a well-placed official in the Russian Ministry of Defense," who said Moscow plans "to freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries," Espen Barth Eide, state secretary with the Norwegian ministry said.

Mr. Eide told The Associated Press that the Russian official notified Norway it will receive a written note about this soon. He said Norwegian diplomats in Moscow would meet Russian officials on Thursday morning to clarify the implications of the freeze.

"It is our understanding that other NATO countries will receive similar notes," Eide said. The ministry said the Russian official is known to the embassy, but Norway declined to provide a name or any further identifying information.

Russia began military cooperation with NATO in 2002 and its activities have mostly focused on joint efforts to patrol the Mediterranean for terrorists, combat heroin trafficking, and develop battlefield antimissile technology.

US and NATO officials say they were unaware of Russia's plan to suspend military cooperation. Reuters reports that the Russian ambassador to NATO has played down the move, saying it is "of temporary character, of regional character, not global character."

Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin said curtailing contacts was "in nobody's interest". "Temporary decisions are being taken on current cooperation and not about cooperation in general," he told Reuters in English.

Asked which areas these involved, he said: "Military naval exercises in the far east, the Mediterranean, in the Baltic."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood described the move as "unfortunate," saying, "We need to work with Russia on a range of security issues, but we are obviously very concerned about Russian behavior in Georgia," reports the Associated Press.

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