US not to Bargain With Russia on Missile Defense: RiceThe US is not going to promise Russia a broader economic cooperation in exchange for its concessions on missile defense issues, visiting US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in a Thursday interview with Ekho Moskvy radio.The fact that she has come to Moscow at the same time as the US treasury secretary and commerce secretary is just a happy coincidence, not a hint that Washington is ready to swap economic profits for Russia's retreat on missile defense issues, Rice said. It is an opportunity to show the U.S. sees its relations with Russia as something more than an argument over nuclear defense issues, she said. The U.S. "wants to develop all spheres of cooperation with Russia, and economic cooperation is one of the most important spheres." Rice said there were several components of the new-phase Russian-U.S. relationship. Besides political and economic liberalization, the new relationship also includes cooperation in the spheres of regional security, economic cooperation, new measures to prevent arms proliferation, and the crack-down against terrorism. Talking about the upcoming bilateral consultations to be held on strategic security, Rice said there was no deadline set for these negotiations. But the U.S. government has made it clear that it intends to start developing and testing the systems necessary to meet missile threats in near future. Sooner or later, such tests will contradict the constraints imposed by the ABM Treaty, she said. "We do not want to be constantly accused of violating the ABM Treaty. That's why we think maximum flexibility is necessary and that's why we are talking about moving beyond the ABM Treaty," she added. There must be development and change both in the possibility of testing missile defense systems and in the very nature of Russian- U.S. relations, she said. |
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