Source: Xinhau News Agency
The U.S.-led anti-missile defense shields in Europe
may seriously damage relations between Russia and the United States if
the two sides could not reach agreements on the issue, Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday.
"We hope problems in the anti-missile defense shield will not
escalate and cause our relations move backward to the ice age. We hope
to avoid this," Ryabkov told the Voice of Russia radio in an interview.
Ryabkov said that Moscow did not rule out the possibility of
withdrawing from the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) it
signed with the U.S. in 2010, if no solution would be reached on the
issue.
According to Ryabkov, these problems could be solved on the ground
proposed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in November, when the
president asked again legally-binding guarantees from the U.S. and NATO
that the missile defense shield is not targeting Russia.
Medvedev also warned in November that Russia might station missile
defense systems, including the Iskander, in western and southern
sections of the country if there were any additional U.S. missile
deployments in Europe.
Moscow has long opposed the deployment of U.S.-led NATO missile
defense facilities near its borders and intends to seek legally- binding
guarantees from the U.S. and NATO.
