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Russian diplomat accuses US of sparking arms race

Russia's top diplomat accused the US of launching a new arms race as the two nations traded barbs over US plans to erect a missile defense system in countries formally under Moscow's influence.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained that the US rationale for the shield is thin, and suggested that US assurances to Russia amount to a brush-off.

"All they are saying is, 'Don't worry it's not aimed at you,'" Lavrov said on Wednesday. He called the plan a threat to Russia and added, "The arms race is starting again."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US had repeatedly explained its plan to Russia in considerable detail and was ready to discuss the matter further. She tartly noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had said Russia's own strategic defenses could easily overpower the US system.

"We quite agree," she said.

Lavrov made a dark joke in response.

"I hope that nobody has to actually prove that Condi is right about that," he said.

On Tuesday, Russia tested a new multiple-warhead, intercontinental ballistic missile as Putin warned that the planned US missile shield would turn Europe into a "powder keg."

US President George W. Bush, Rice and US Defense Secretary Richard Gates have all tried to reassure the Russians that the planned missile system is aimed at preventing Iran from someday threatening Europe.

"The idea that this somehow would degrade Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent is just ludicrous, and the Russians know it's ludicrous," Rice told reporters earlier. "There isn't any military person who can imagine this system with a few interceptors and a few sensors and a few radars able to intercept the Russian deterrent."

Lavrov took issue with that on Wednesday.

"For us, this is not ludicrous at all, and I hope our American partners will respect our analysis, which we have presented to them in a very professional and detailed way," he said.

The Russian diplomat was also blunt in describing Russia's disagreement with the West over the status of Kosovo. The two sides are "diametrically opposed," and he said he sees no prospect for resolving the dispute soon. He added that he hopes Russia will not have to use its veto power in the UN Security Council over the issue.

The Serbian province has been under UN administration since NATO launched airstrikes in 1999 to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists. The US and key European countries support Kosovo's independence but Russia, traditionally a Serbian ally, opposes it.

US officials say the deployment of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic would protect Russia and the rest of Europe from potential attack by Iran, North Korea or other nations.

The European sites are part of a larger shield that the Bush administration envisions for Europe and North America.
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