A senior Russian lawmaker called yesterday for Russia to be included in US plans to build a missile defense system in Europe, warning Moscow will otherwise view the antimissile shield as a threat.
"Russia has every reason to be interested in close cooperation in creating Eurasian missile-defense systems," Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the State Duma, wrote in an opinion piece in the International Herald Tribune.
"And any attempt to build them without Russia [which is not only an interested party but also geographically and technically the most suitable place for an effective antimissile defense] automatically means they are being built against Russia," wrote the lawmaker.
Russia has repeatedly criticized the US' plans to place missile defense equipment in countries that were once part of Moscow's orbit.
The US has asked the Czech Republic to host a radar system and Poland to host interceptor rockets as part of its missile defense plans.
Washington insists the anti-missile shield is intended as protection against attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran and points out that the proposed system would be useless against Russia's vast weapons arsenal.
Kosachev argued building an antimissile shield without Russia wouldn't be effective and counterproductive as Moscow would view it as a threat.
"Our colleagues in Europe should understand this basic principle: Any attempt to build a security system without Russia [still less against it] by definition cannot be comprehensive or effective," he wrote.
"Instead of security for Europe's people we will have a new division and new targets on our densely populated Continent," Kosachev noted, echoing warnings by other Russian officials that Moscow would be forced to target the anti-missile shield.
On Friday, the lower house of the Russian parliament warned that the antimissile shield risks triggering a new international arms race.
"Such decisions, which are useless in terms of preventing potential or imaginary threats from countries of the Middle and Far East, are already bringing about a new split in Europe and unleashing another arms race," read the declaration, which was approved unanimously by deputies in the State Duma.
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