Time running out for Nato missile deal: Russia

Russia warned on Thursday time was running out to conclude a missile defence deal with Nato after the two failed again to bridge differences on a project the alliance says is aimed at countering threats from states like Iran. "We do not agree yet," Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after talks in Brussels between Nato foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
"We all agree it is important to keep on trying to keep on talking to keep on listening to each others concerns," he said. "If we can agree on this issue it will take our relationship to the next level," he added, saying Nato still hoped to reach an outline pact with Russia by a Nato summit in Chicago next May. Lavrov said the two sides had had a "useful" discussion, but reiterated a demand for guarantees that the system did not target Russia given Moscow's concerns about the stationing of the shield's military infrastructure near Russian territory.
"We believe we still have some time to reach a mutually beneficial solution," he told a news conference. "We still have some time, but time is running out every day." Both Rasmussen and Lavrov said the two sides had agreed to strengthen co-operation in other areas, including the fight against terrorism, and Nato ministers backed Russian proposals to boost co-operation in combating maritime piracy.
While Russia is interested in co-operating with Nato on missile defence, it is seeking legal guarantees that Nato's planned system is not aimed at limiting Russia's strategic nuclear capability and wants joint control of how it is used. Nato wants separate systems and says Russia and Nato already have a binding agreement that they will refrain from the use of force against each other. Russia has threatened to deploy missiles and radar near Nato territory to counter the Nato system if an agreement to cooperate cannot be reached. Lavrov repeated Russian concerns about plans to station elements of the missile defence system near Russia in Nato states Poland, Romania and Turkey, including radars which would have coverage into Russian territory.
"They keep repeating not to worry, not to worry, it is not targeted against you," Lavrov said. "If we are to be treated as a potential strategic partner, we'd like people to have respect for our intellectual abilities. "We need legally binding arrangements because good intentions come and pass, while military capabilities is what stays." Last month Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he would arm Russia with missiles capable of countering the US shield and set up an early-warning radar system in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Lithuania and Poland, in a bid to pressure the United States and Nato.