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US, Russian FMs Meet in Cairo on NMD System
- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell held talks in Cairo on Saturday afternoon with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov. This is their first meeting since U.S. President George W. Bush took office on January 20.
Their talks are expected to touch upon such fundamental questions as U.S.-Russian ties, cooperation between the two countries in international security and stability, nuclear threats and the U.S. plan for the National Missile Defense (NMD) system.
They would also discuss the latest developments in the Middle East region, where both countries have played a mediating role.
The U.S. missile defense program may top the agenda of the meeting. Russia said the U.S. plan would violate the 1972 Soviet-U.S. Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) and destroy global strategic stability. The U.S. is pressing for changes to the treaty to allow its plan for NMD system to move ahead.
Washington says it needs NMD to protect against attack from hostile nuclear-threshold states. Moscow says the threat is exaggerated and warns NMD would undermine its own deterrent and trigger a new arms race.
The 60-billion-dollar NMD system, dubbed "Son of Star Wars," is designed to track missiles and shoot them down before they hit U.S. soil.
Ivanov stressed on Thursday that the 1972 arms control treaty must be upheld, saying the ABM treaty "has not become out of date. It remains a cornerstone" of strategic stability in the world.
Russia on Tuesday presented an alternative to the U.S. missile shield which calls for a defensive system with mobile elements placed at points most threatened by missile attack.
But the system would only be set up if Russia and the Europeans agreed there was a threat and after talks aimed at dealing with the threat by political or peaceful means.
Ivanov noted Wednesday that the Russian proposals did not violate the ABM treaty.
He proposed holding multilateral talks to assess the threats that have prompted the U.S. to develop its own missile shield and developing a global system of control of rockets and rocket technology.
The strategic stability requires serious dialog with the participation of the United States, European countries, China, and other states concerned, he said, "Even the strongest world power cannot solve such problems alone."
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