Russian President Vladimir Putin sprang a diplomatic surprise on Thursday in his dispute with the US over the siting of a US missile defense system in Europe, suggesting instead that it could be placed in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
The Russian leader, who raised the prospect of a new cold war with the West in his hawkish speech on the eve of the summit, claimed he had already secured the agreement of the Azerbaijani government to the proposal.
The offer was not immediately rejected by a startled George Bush following bilateral talks between the two leaders at the G8 summit.
The US proposal for a missile defense system, including interceptor and radar, sited in the former Warsaw pact countries of Poland and the Czech Republic, has prompted fury in Moscow. Putin has threatened to train his nuclear arsenal on Europe as a reprisal, as well as withdraw from arms control treaties.
But on Thursday, Putin said he would drop his objections to Bush's plan if the interceptors and radar were in the former Soviet republic. He argued that a system based in Azerbaijan would be more effective in combating missiles aimed at Europe and the US by so-called rogue states such as Iran.
He said the siting in Azerbaijan would protect the whole of Europe, and also ensure that any missiles shot down did not fall on mainland Europe but into the sea. Azerbaijan shares a 431km border with Iran. Information from the Russian radar would be relayed in real time to the US, and presumably Europe.
Putin added that, as part of the proposed deal, the US would be required to share technology, something the US has broadly offered to do.
Bush called it "an interesting suggestion" and said the US and Russia would begin negotiations to pursue the idea. There is public resistance to the proposals from some in Poland and the Czech Republic, so the idea of switching the system elsewhere has its attractions.
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer welcomed Russia's offer yesterday, calling it a break with "anachronistic" rhetoric.
However, Scheffer said that it was too early to tell if the proposal for a joint base in Azerbaijan could be integrated into the US missile shield, parts of which Washington currently wants built in the Czech Republic and Poland.
"I hope that what we are seeing ... is a signal that everybody will start talking to everybody once again on this important subject of missile defense," he told a security and defense conference in Brussels.
"We need to get on with the addressing together the 21st century security challenges, rather than resurrecting those from the past," he said after Russian President Vladimir Putin made the offer at the G8 summit.
Scheffer took particular aim at Putin's threat that missiles could be pointed at Europe if Washington goes ahead with the defense shield project, which has raised deep concern in Russia.
"Warnings that Russian missiles might once again be targeted at Europe are unhelpful, unwelcome and, frankly, anachronistic," he said.
"I think it is always useful if the two presidents, Bush and Putin, are constructively talking to each other on this subject," Scheffer said. "Let's see how the debate further develops."
Azerbaijan has welcomed the plan, but Scheffer said it was too soon to know whether it could work or would be accepted.
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