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US set for Russia missile talks US argues case for missile shield
(about 4 hours later)
The United States is stepping up its efforts to allay Russian concerns over its plan to deploy a limited missile defence system in Europe. Nato member states say a US missile defence system - strongly opposed by Russia - must protect all of them.
The proposal is the focus of talks in Brussels on Thursday that will involve Nato and Russian officials. The anti-missile shield is being discussed at Nato headquarters in Brussels and a Russian delegation is presenting its objections there too.
Washington says the missile system is intended to protect the US from possible long-range missile attacks from Iran and North Korea. A Nato spokesman said Nato members agreed that "there is a threat to Europe of missiles" and that their security must be "indivisible".
But Moscow sees the plan as a threat to its own strategic interests. The US wants parts of the shield to be sited in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Nato countries in Europe also have to be fully convinced of the urgency and scope of what the US is proposing, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says. "There were no critical comments, but there was the strong belief that we should pursue the indivisibility of security and maintain maximum transparency," said Nato spokesman James Appathurai. He was commenting on talks among senior officials of the 26-nation alliance.
'Double sales pitch' Iran was named as a country that "could potentially pose a missile threat to Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community," he said.
Washington has despatched a high-level team to Nato to set out its case for limited missile defences. Deployment plan
The plan is to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland with an associated radar in the Czech Republic.
How defence system worksHow defence system works
It includes both Under Secretary of Defence Eric Edelman and the Director of the US Missile Defence Agency, Lt Gen Henry Obering. But due to its location, the system would not protect Turkey or even parts of Greece from attack, the BBC's Jonathan Marcus reports from Brussels.
Their job is to make a double sales pitch, our correspondent says. The Americans explained how an additional Nato defensive system could be bolted onto their plan to provide the additional coverage.
On the one hand, he says, the Americans must convince the Europeans that there really is an urgent need to deploy defences against a potential Iranian missile attack. Mr Appathurai said there was a feeling at the meeting that the proposed system "cannot pose any threat to Russia's capabilities nor change the strategic balance," the AFP news agency reported.
But equally - at a subsequent meeting of the Nato-Russia Council - they must try to convince Moscow that it is not threatened by the scheme. The US team includes both Under Secretary of Defence Eric Edelman and the Director of the US Missile Defence Agency, Lt Gen Henry Obering.
So far Russia has responded angrily to Washington's plan to base up to 10 missile interceptors on Polish soil and a new radar system in the Czech Republic. They are trying to convince the Europeans that there really is an urgent need to deploy defences against a potential Iranian missile attack.
Lt Gen Obering is one of the top officials in the US team But equally - at a meeting of the Nato-Russia Council - they must try to convince Moscow that it is not threatened by the scheme.
It sees this as ultimately compromising the effectiveness of Russia's own deterrent. The Americans say it is nonsense given the scale and location of the proposed system. The ruling German coalition is deeply divided on the missile issue, and the government in Berlin is eager to establish a consensus within Nato before any plans go ahead, our correspondent says.
While there is a broad consensus in Nato that missile defence should be on the alliance's agenda, the Americans are yet to convince everyone of the strategic rationale behind their plan, our correspondent says.
He says that some see potential echoes of the Cold War battles over the deployment of medium-range US nuclear missiles in Europe during the 1980s.
The ruling German coalition is deeply divided on the issue, and the government in Berlin is eager to establish a consensus within Nato before any plans go ahead, our correspondent says.