Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
April 7, 2008
Pg. 6
By John D. McKinnon
SOCHI, Russia -- President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to achieve an immediate breakthrough on design for a planned European missile shield, but the U.S. claimed a victory in gaining long-term Russian cooperation on a system.
Following a weekend summit, a joint declaration Sunday said the two sides "expressed their interest" in building a missile-shield system in which the U.S., Russia and Europe "will participate as equal partners." The declaration added that recent U.S. concessions will help in "assuaging" the Kremlin's concerns about whether the system is a threat to Russian defenses. Still, Russia repeated its basic opposition to the current U.S. plan to build the system in Poland and the Czech Republic, two former Soviet satellite states.
Later, at a press conference, however, Mr. Putin suggested an expanded shield, proposing a "global missile defense" system in cooperation with the U.S. and Europe. He added that such a system would be more "democratic" than the U.S. plan, in a possible rhetorical jab at Mr. Bush, who has often criticized the Russian leader's record on political freedoms.
The prospects for any concrete agreement remained uncertain, however, and possibly beyond the reach of the current administration. Mr. Bush termed the agreement "a powerful and important strategic vision" during their joint press conference in Sochi, a Black Sea resort town. But he added that the formal declaration to pursue missile defense in negotiations between the two sides -- as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- will "help not only this administration but future American administrations work with future Russian administrations."
Mr. Putin said the broad discussions with Mr. Bush reflected a maturing of the two powers' understanding of each other. "The most important thing is that we are talking about a strategic choice of our nations in favor of developing a constructive relationship that goes beyond the previous model of mutual containment," Mr. Putin said. Later he added: "I do have certain cautious optimism" about the missile-defense idea, "but the devil is in the details."
For years, the U.S. has sought to build a Euro-focused system that would employ powerful radar in the Czech Republic and missiles in Poland. The U.S. says the system would be aimed at knocking down a long-range missile from Iran or elsewhere, not at Russian weapons. Its tiny number of antimissile missiles could easily be overwhelmed by Russia's huge array, U.S. officials point out.
But Russia has long resisted the proposal as a potential threat to its own strategic deterrent. Last year, as U.S. plans progressed, Mr. Putin proposed using an old Soviet radar station in Azerbaijan as a base for the system, which also could protect Russia. U.S. officials have raised a number of technical concerns about that idea.
After Mr. Putin suggested a global system involving the U.S. as well as Russia and NATO, Mr. Bush endorsed that idea, too, but added that it will take a long time to achieve. "We got a lot of way to go" to achieve Mr. Putin's ideal, Mr. Bush said. In the meantime, the U.S. is hoping to use Mr. Bush's remaining months in office to calm the Russians' worries enough to make significant progress on a regional Europe-focused shield. Eventually, that could lead to a global system.
U.S. officials were eager to portray Sunday's declaration as a significant agreement, sending aides back repeatedly aboard Air Force One to dispute initial press reports that minimized the developments in the long-running dispute between Russia and the U.S.
White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley at one point disputed Mr. Putin's comment that there had been no "breakthrough solutions." He said the declaration shows that the U.S. package, "if we can nail it down, will work."
Though Mr. Putin said at the news conference that Russia's "fundamental attitude to the American plans [has] not changed," the Russian leader added that "in principle, adequate measures of confidence-building and transparency can be found" to allow the system to go forward. He also suggested Russia would insist on permanent inspectors at the bases. That is a potentially sensitive political issue for the Czech Republic and Poland, which only recently emerged from decades of Soviet dominance.
However, the U.S. side has some advantages in the negotiations ahead. It already has reached a specific agreement with the Czech Republic for locating the radar for the European shield. Endorsement of the missile-defense idea at last week's NATO summit meeting in Bucharest also adds momentum to the U.S. plan. In a sense, U.S. officials believe they are now able to use NATO cooperation as a lever to produce movement from the Russians, and Russian cooperation to prod NATO.
Russia "may never formally say, 'We welcome these sites,'" Mr. Hadley told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way back to Washington. "But you know, if the sites are built, and ... Russians show up, liaison officials who ... work at the sites, you can decide in your own mind whether you think Russia has accepted the sites or not. I would argue that at that point they will have accepted those sites."
April 7, 2008
Pg. 6
By John D. McKinnon
SOCHI, Russia -- President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to achieve an immediate breakthrough on design for a planned European missile shield, but the U.S. claimed a victory in gaining long-term Russian cooperation on a system.
Following a weekend summit, a joint declaration Sunday said the two sides "expressed their interest" in building a missile-shield system in which the U.S., Russia and Europe "will participate as equal partners." The declaration added that recent U.S. concessions will help in "assuaging" the Kremlin's concerns about whether the system is a threat to Russian defenses. Still, Russia repeated its basic opposition to the current U.S. plan to build the system in Poland and the Czech Republic, two former Soviet satellite states.
Later, at a press conference, however, Mr. Putin suggested an expanded shield, proposing a "global missile defense" system in cooperation with the U.S. and Europe. He added that such a system would be more "democratic" than the U.S. plan, in a possible rhetorical jab at Mr. Bush, who has often criticized the Russian leader's record on political freedoms.
The prospects for any concrete agreement remained uncertain, however, and possibly beyond the reach of the current administration. Mr. Bush termed the agreement "a powerful and important strategic vision" during their joint press conference in Sochi, a Black Sea resort town. But he added that the formal declaration to pursue missile defense in negotiations between the two sides -- as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- will "help not only this administration but future American administrations work with future Russian administrations."
Mr. Putin said the broad discussions with Mr. Bush reflected a maturing of the two powers' understanding of each other. "The most important thing is that we are talking about a strategic choice of our nations in favor of developing a constructive relationship that goes beyond the previous model of mutual containment," Mr. Putin said. Later he added: "I do have certain cautious optimism" about the missile-defense idea, "but the devil is in the details."
For years, the U.S. has sought to build a Euro-focused system that would employ powerful radar in the Czech Republic and missiles in Poland. The U.S. says the system would be aimed at knocking down a long-range missile from Iran or elsewhere, not at Russian weapons. Its tiny number of antimissile missiles could easily be overwhelmed by Russia's huge array, U.S. officials point out.
But Russia has long resisted the proposal as a potential threat to its own strategic deterrent. Last year, as U.S. plans progressed, Mr. Putin proposed using an old Soviet radar station in Azerbaijan as a base for the system, which also could protect Russia. U.S. officials have raised a number of technical concerns about that idea.
After Mr. Putin suggested a global system involving the U.S. as well as Russia and NATO, Mr. Bush endorsed that idea, too, but added that it will take a long time to achieve. "We got a lot of way to go" to achieve Mr. Putin's ideal, Mr. Bush said. In the meantime, the U.S. is hoping to use Mr. Bush's remaining months in office to calm the Russians' worries enough to make significant progress on a regional Europe-focused shield. Eventually, that could lead to a global system.
U.S. officials were eager to portray Sunday's declaration as a significant agreement, sending aides back repeatedly aboard Air Force One to dispute initial press reports that minimized the developments in the long-running dispute between Russia and the U.S.
White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley at one point disputed Mr. Putin's comment that there had been no "breakthrough solutions." He said the declaration shows that the U.S. package, "if we can nail it down, will work."
Though Mr. Putin said at the news conference that Russia's "fundamental attitude to the American plans [has] not changed," the Russian leader added that "in principle, adequate measures of confidence-building and transparency can be found" to allow the system to go forward. He also suggested Russia would insist on permanent inspectors at the bases. That is a potentially sensitive political issue for the Czech Republic and Poland, which only recently emerged from decades of Soviet dominance.
However, the U.S. side has some advantages in the negotiations ahead. It already has reached a specific agreement with the Czech Republic for locating the radar for the European shield. Endorsement of the missile-defense idea at last week's NATO summit meeting in Bucharest also adds momentum to the U.S. plan. In a sense, U.S. officials believe they are now able to use NATO cooperation as a lever to produce movement from the Russians, and Russian cooperation to prod NATO.
Russia "may never formally say, 'We welcome these sites,'" Mr. Hadley told reporters aboard Air Force One on the way back to Washington. "But you know, if the sites are built, and ... Russians show up, liaison officials who ... work at the sites, you can decide in your own mind whether you think Russia has accepted the sites or not. I would argue that at that point they will have accepted those sites."