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http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-...mantle-european-antimissile-system-1439564634
Russia Steps Up Calls to Dismantle European Antimissile System
NATO officials stress that system is not directed at Russia
By Nathan Hodge in Moscow and Julian E. Barnes in Brussels
Aug. 14, 2015 11:03 a.m. ET
16 COMMENTS
MOSCOW—Russia stepped up its calls Friday to dismantle the missile defense system being built in Europe by the U.S. and its allies, saying that the recent nuclear deal with Iran undercuts Washington’s chief argument for the system.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a news conference on Friday that the Russian government didn’t see any reason why Washington should proceed with plans to move forward with ballistic-missile defense in Europe, saying the deployment of the new technology was clearly aimed at countering Russia’s own arsenal.
“We don’t see any reason for it to continue, especially at such an accelerated pace and with such a clear designs on Russian territory,” Mr. Ryabkov said, according to the state news agency Interfax.
In 2001, President George W. Bush announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, saying the U.S. would field an ambitious missile-defense system designed to protect against missile attacks by “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea.
While President Barack Obama has scaled back some of those programs, the U.S. has moved forward with plans to build a European missile-defense shield.
The Kremlin has long opposed European missile defense, saying it would alter the strategic balance between nuclear-armed states and provoke a destabilizing arms race.
Mr. Ryabkov’s comments, however, come amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West following the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization members in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Baltic states, have looked at Russia’s backing of separatists in Ukraine with particular anxiety. And the U.S. has previously raised concerns about the Russian deployment of Iskander short-range ballistic missiles in the Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad.
Pavel Baev, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said tensions over Ukraine could refocus European interest in missile-defense preparations.
“The Russian attempt to play this card now…is really an attempt to distract attention from the plain fact that Russia is a far greater threat than Iran could have ever been,” he said.
U.S. and allied officials on Friday dismissed Mr. Ryabkov’s comments and said the arguments for a European missile defense shield remained as strong as ever.
“The successful resolution of the nuclear deal does not obviate the need for ballistic missile defense to counter the Iranian ballistic missile defense threat,” said Shannon Quinn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. delegation to NATO.
Ms. Quinn noted that the United Nations Security Council will keep in place sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile programs for the next eight years.
“Iran has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, which continues to be a source of concern for us and for the international community,” she said.
The U.S. is providing a measure of ballistic missile defense for Europe from its Aegis-radar equipped destroyers stationed in Rota, Spain. There are currently three destroyers in Rota, with a fourth and final ship, the USS Carney, due to arrive next month.
While the Obama administration scrapped plans for larger ground-based interceptors based in Europe in 2009, the U.S. did agree to create two Aegis onshore sites in Romania and Poland. Work on the Romanian site, including radar and intercept missiles is being completed. The site should be operational by the end of the year, officials said. The Polish site is expected to be completed in 2018.
The NATO alliance is aiming to have its missile-defense command-and-control facility at Ramstein air base in Germany active by next year’s alliance summit in Warsaw, Poland.
NATO officials noted that ballistic-missile technology is proliferating rapidly, and there is a growing threat that terror groups in failed states such as Syria could acquire long range weapons. Carmen Romero, a NATO spokeswoman, said the NATO missile defense system is justified as long as ballistic missiles capable of reaching the alliance in Europe are in place.
“Many countries have, or are acquiring, ballistic missile technology,” she said. “The recent agreement between Iran and the international community does not change this fact.”
Both Ms. Romero and Ms. Quinn emphasized that the system isn’t directed at Russia and isn’t capable of shooting down Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, based on the basic geography of the defensive sites.
“It is not directed against Russia and the ballistic missile defense system does not pose a threat to Russia’s strategic deterrent,” Ms. Quinn said.
Write to Nathan Hodge at nathan.hodge@wsj.com and Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-...mantle-european-antimissile-system-1439564634
Russia Steps Up Calls to Dismantle European Antimissile System
NATO officials stress that system is not directed at Russia
By Nathan Hodge in Moscow and Julian E. Barnes in Brussels
Aug. 14, 2015 11:03 a.m. ET
16 COMMENTS
MOSCOW—Russia stepped up its calls Friday to dismantle the missile defense system being built in Europe by the U.S. and its allies, saying that the recent nuclear deal with Iran undercuts Washington’s chief argument for the system.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a news conference on Friday that the Russian government didn’t see any reason why Washington should proceed with plans to move forward with ballistic-missile defense in Europe, saying the deployment of the new technology was clearly aimed at countering Russia’s own arsenal.
“We don’t see any reason for it to continue, especially at such an accelerated pace and with such a clear designs on Russian territory,” Mr. Ryabkov said, according to the state news agency Interfax.
In 2001, President George W. Bush announced the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, saying the U.S. would field an ambitious missile-defense system designed to protect against missile attacks by “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea.
While President Barack Obama has scaled back some of those programs, the U.S. has moved forward with plans to build a European missile-defense shield.
The Kremlin has long opposed European missile defense, saying it would alter the strategic balance between nuclear-armed states and provoke a destabilizing arms race.
Mr. Ryabkov’s comments, however, come amid heightened tensions between Russia and the West following the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization members in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and the Baltic states, have looked at Russia’s backing of separatists in Ukraine with particular anxiety. And the U.S. has previously raised concerns about the Russian deployment of Iskander short-range ballistic missiles in the Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad.
Pavel Baev, a research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said tensions over Ukraine could refocus European interest in missile-defense preparations.
“The Russian attempt to play this card now…is really an attempt to distract attention from the plain fact that Russia is a far greater threat than Iran could have ever been,” he said.
U.S. and allied officials on Friday dismissed Mr. Ryabkov’s comments and said the arguments for a European missile defense shield remained as strong as ever.
“The successful resolution of the nuclear deal does not obviate the need for ballistic missile defense to counter the Iranian ballistic missile defense threat,” said Shannon Quinn, a spokeswoman for the U.S. delegation to NATO.
Ms. Quinn noted that the United Nations Security Council will keep in place sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile programs for the next eight years.
“Iran has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, which continues to be a source of concern for us and for the international community,” she said.
The U.S. is providing a measure of ballistic missile defense for Europe from its Aegis-radar equipped destroyers stationed in Rota, Spain. There are currently three destroyers in Rota, with a fourth and final ship, the USS Carney, due to arrive next month.
While the Obama administration scrapped plans for larger ground-based interceptors based in Europe in 2009, the U.S. did agree to create two Aegis onshore sites in Romania and Poland. Work on the Romanian site, including radar and intercept missiles is being completed. The site should be operational by the end of the year, officials said. The Polish site is expected to be completed in 2018.
The NATO alliance is aiming to have its missile-defense command-and-control facility at Ramstein air base in Germany active by next year’s alliance summit in Warsaw, Poland.
NATO officials noted that ballistic-missile technology is proliferating rapidly, and there is a growing threat that terror groups in failed states such as Syria could acquire long range weapons. Carmen Romero, a NATO spokeswoman, said the NATO missile defense system is justified as long as ballistic missiles capable of reaching the alliance in Europe are in place.
“Many countries have, or are acquiring, ballistic missile technology,” she said. “The recent agreement between Iran and the international community does not change this fact.”
Both Ms. Romero and Ms. Quinn emphasized that the system isn’t directed at Russia and isn’t capable of shooting down Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, based on the basic geography of the defensive sites.
“It is not directed against Russia and the ballistic missile defense system does not pose a threat to Russia’s strategic deterrent,” Ms. Quinn said.
Write to Nathan Hodge at nathan.hodge@wsj.com and Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com