Russian President Dmitry Medvedev seemed open to discussing a US plan to cancel an anti-missile system in Europe if Russia helps prevent Iran from developing long-range weapons, a proposal that could snugly fit the Kremlin’s strategic objectives.
Such a deal would scrap a missile defense system proposed by the Bush administration that Moscow suspects is pointed at its strategic capability, and at the same time blunt what the Kremlin may regard as a growing threat from Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
While Medvedev didn’t commit Russia to the idea presented in a letter from US President Barack Obama three weeks ago, he sounded positive in his first public comments on Tuesday after the letter’s existence was reported by several publications.
“Our American partners are ready to discuss this problem, and that’s already positive,” he said at a news conference while visiting Spain. “Several months ago we were hearing different signals: ‘The decision has been made. There is nothing to discuss. We will do what we have decided to do.’ Now I hope the situation is different.”
Medvedev said Moscow shared US concerns about Iran and nuclear proliferation. He denied, however, that Obama’s letter laid out a straight deal — trading abandonment of the US missile system for Russian pressure on Iran.
“No one is linking these issues to some kind of trade-offs, particularly on the Iranian issue,” he said. “We are already working in close contact with our US counterparts on the Iranian nuclear issue.”
Cancellation of the US plan to install 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a related radar installation in the Czech Republic would be celebrated by Moscow, which has repeatedly threatened to target its missiles on European targets if the system is built.
The US has said the proposed system is intended to address the threat that Iran could pose if it developed long-range missiles.
Russia says it is really aimed at Moscow’s arsenal of strategic missiles and would upset the balance of nuclear forces.
An agreement could help relations between the US and Russia, which slumped after the Russian-Georgian war in August.
Still, any agreement by the Kremlin to help raise pressure on Iran would also stir up trouble.
It could open a deep rift between Moscow and Tehran, a key market for Russian arms and technology. And a Russia-US understanding on Iran would weaken the Kremlin’s effort to portray itself as a counterweight to the US, which Russia has used to build closer relations with Venezuela, Nicaragua and other nations in the anti-Washington camp.
Russia also has extensive trade with Iran it might not want to jeopardize, although its role as a major supplier of military hardware would give Moscow far more leverage in pressuring Tehran than most other nations.
Experts say the differences between the US and Russia on dealing with Iran aren’t just tactical. Moscow, many say, holds a fundamentally different view of Iran’s role — seeing Tehran as a guarantor of stability in the Middle East, while the US and its allies regard it as a source of instability and sponsor of terrorism.
But Alexander Konovalov, head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessment, said the Kremlin’s view may be changing. He said Russia was increasingly worried by Iran’s growing uranium-enrichment program and its recent launch of an orbiting satellite, demonstrating the capabilities of its rocket technology.
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