US ready to cooperate with Russia on missile defence

The new American administration is open to new possibilities of cooperation with Russia on missile defence, US Undersecretary of State William Burns told the Russian news agency, Interfax, on Friday. Mr Burns, who is visiting Moscow, said that the US would continue to “consult closely” their partners in the Czech Republic and Poland on the issue. He also said no US president can afford a situation in which the United States is vulnerable to potential threats from countries like North Korea or Iran.

The Czech government signed treaties with the United States last summer on hosting an American radar base in central Bohemia, a project strongly opposed by Russia. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg in Washington last week that the project might be reconsidered, depending on Iran’s willingness to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Author: Jan Richter