Russian President Vladimir Putin is, reportedly, determined not to agree to a US proposal to set up a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
In a sharp reaction to the US move on behalf of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Putin said the US plan would undoubtedly turn the continent into a powder keg with vastly destructive weapons. This is a situation that Russia is strongly against and hence it is forced to react, the president said in an interview with the German daily Dier Spiegel. The shield project, which US wants to establish as a line of defense against Iranian or North Korean attacks, would trigger a nuclear arms race, the Russian president fears. He said that Washington is striving to deploy an anti-missile defense system in NATO member states Poland and Czech Republic against unlikely attacks. The US scheme, said the Russian leader, would upset the world’s strategic balance of power.
However, the US president has announced his willingness to discuss the new missile program with Russians. Bush’s attempt to convince Putin of the need for the defense shield scheme did not, however, succeed in their meetings on the sidelines of the recent G-8 summit in Germany.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has also repeated the Bush administration’s plan to go ahead with the project but with due consideration to the Russian interests. However, the missile shield program is not likely to force Russia to renounce the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty expiring in 2009.
In the face of repeated US declarations to go ahead with the defense shield program, Russia has launched a media campaign highlighting the political fallout of the project. In some of its reported statements Russia has even threatened to direct its missiles at European positions. Russia is also revitalizing its nuclear facilities so that it can manufacture deadlier and even more powerful warheads than it now possesses.
In an effort to ease the tension between the two countries, Bush hosted a meeting with Putin at his private resort. But Bush failed to convince the Russian leader of the American rationale for setting up a huge arsenal to deal with North Korea and Iran whose nuclear skills are rather rudimentary.
On the other hand, Russia believes that the American scheme aims at monitoring the Russian military and missile programs. Russia knows that the radars and other powerful devices set up close to Russia in the Eastern Europe would be capable of detecting even the most secretly guarded Russian defense schemes. That is why Russia believes that the talk about Iranian and North Korean threat to the European safety is just a cover for a US plan to tighten its grip on Europe.
Russia is also endeavoring to regain its past glory as a nuclear power, which suffered a reverse over the past several years in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union.
It is as though Russia wants to convey to the US the message that though it did not object to the expansion of the NATO to include the former Warsaw members in the Eastern Europe, it would not tolerate any more move to endanger its own security.
The Russian opposition to the defense shield program has the indirect goal of stirring up the European concerns about the US objective in the matter, while countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain are already doubtful of the effectiveness of the project. They fear that the project would lead to disunity in the ranks of the EU.
What is more, they are yet to be convinced of the effectiveness of the defense shield program as a deterrent to Iran and North Korea as the US has already failed in pacifying Iraq.
The European countries do not worry about their security because they do not find anything threatening their safety. On the other hand, they are concerned about the US presence in Europe. Europeans would feel comfortable and safe without the US and its heavy arms. It is because the Europeans have more confidence in their diplomacy than they have in US weapons. They trust their diplomacy can do a better job of dealing with the current wave of extremism and terrorism.
It is also a fact that a number of Europeans think that the real danger to Europe comes from US policies. They do not want their youth to get killed in faraway lands such as Afghanistan or Iraq.
