Russia hints at BMD cooperation with US

Here's the article :

WASHINGTON, January 13 (RIA Novosti, Alexei Berezin) - The increase of the number of nuclear weapons in Russia is out of the question, announced Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov during a press conference in Washington.

"Russia has always been and will be a great nuclear power. We will develop, improve and deploy new types of nuclear weapons. We will make them more reliable and accurate, although we are not doing it coming form the logic of the "cold war," and we do not plan to increase the number of nuclear weapons - that is out of the question," the minister said.

"Russia does not need the same amount of nuclear weapons at present as it used to have during the Soviet era," the Russian minister underlined.

He said that Russia concluded test launches of a new land-based missile complex Topol-M, including its mobile version in 2004. Mr. Ivanov also announced that Russia would start the testing of a sea-based missile complex Bulava in 2005.

"I can also inform you that we are conducting the development of more advanced systems. However, I would like to reiterate that all these measures are not aimed against any particular country," the minister said.

Mr. Ivanov believes that there is a hypothetical possibility of cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in the sphere of missile defense.

"Hypothetically, such a possibility does exist, although we must protect our intellectual property and ensure confidentiality of information," the Russian minister emphasized.

Stating that the work in this direction continues, he did not specify concrete dates for its conclusion.

"In principle, military-technical cooperation between Russia and the U.S. existed before, and we do not have fundamental objections against the expansion of such cooperation," Mr. Ivanov underlined.

He said that the development of a project on Russian-U.S. military-cooperation had started a while ago. "It is a complicated agreement and we will not be able to conclude it in a few months, " he stressed.

Mr. Ivanov also underlined that it was a framework agreement, which would open possibilities for the development of technical cooperation between various Russian and U.S. enterprises and the military-technical cooperation between the two countries in general.

source : en.rian.ru...

[edit on 31-1-2005 by Stealth Spy]

WASHINGTON, January 13 (RIA Novosti's Alexei Berezin) - Russia will participate in the U.S. nuclear security exercises, announced Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov at a press conference at the Russian embassy in Washington.

"I believe that the times of pure declarations are over and we take increasingly specific actions. In April, as part of bilateral Russian-U.S. cooperation in the sphere of security, Russian military personnel will participate in the U.S. nuclear security exercises aimed at perfecting the procedures for transporting and handling nuclear weapons," the Russian defense minister stated.

He pointed out that similar exercises were conducted last year on the Russian territory. Forty-nine observers from 17 NATO countries attended the exercises.

"As to our cooperation in the fight against terrorism, we created a working group, which mainly includes military personnel of both countries," Mr. Ivanov said.

He also underlined that he did not want to create an impression that Russia and the U.S. have similar views on all issues. "That is not true," he said.

Mr. Ivanov noted that Russian and US positions on certain issues do not coincide. "And we are not afraid to admit it," he said. In his opinion, the solution is to find compromises and effective approaches, which would satisfy interests of both countries.

As if confirming the statement about different views on certain global issues made by the Russian defense minister, the U.S. State Department issued a warning about "possible sanctions" against Russia in case it decides to deliver Russian-made Iskander (SS-26) missile complexes to Syria.

"We saw the reports about the possible sales deal, and the U.S. policy in that respect is absolutely clear. We are against the sales of armaments to Syria. We are against the sales of deadly weapons to Damascus because Syria is a known sponsor of terrorism," U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told journalists at a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.

"We consider such arms sales inappropriate and the Russians know about our attitude. They are well aware of our point of view," Mr. Boucher underlined. At the same time, he refused to answer directly a question about specific sanctions against Russia in case it goes ahead with arms sales deal with Syria.

"We will act according to U.S. laws, but these sanctions will be introduced only if the deal goes through," the U.S. State Department official said.

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Hmmmm...this sounds really intresting .

I guess russia are comming of age after the cold war, and working with the US towards a symbiotic growth strategy .

What's your say. What is your take on thes development ??

It is interesting, but I find it hard to believe the U.S. and Russia will really start designing nuclear missiles together. Both sides probably want to have some secrets in their designs.

Originally posted by djohnsto77
It is interesting, but I find it hard to believe the U.S. and Russia will really start designing nuclear missiles together. Both sides probably want to have some secrets in their designs.

They won't be designing nuclear missiles, rather defensive systems. It makes sense to me, both countries have the ability to destroy each other regardless of any conceivable BMD system - but both are worried about other less advanced states (China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, etc.) using a small number of missiles to coerce their foreign policy.