U.S. ‘still interested’ in missile defense cooperation with RussiaJanuary 4, 2013 - 16:09 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States is still interested in missile defense cooperation with Russia, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, according to RIA Novosti. “In late November - early December, we had discussions again between Acting Under Secretary Rose Gottemoeller and [Russian] Deputy Foreign Minister [Sergei] Ryabkov on the missile defense issues. We remain committed to cooperating with Russia on missile defense,” Nuland told journalists. “We think this can be a win-win for both of us because we think we share the same threats. But it’s going to require Russia being willing to have a real conversation about how we can work together on this, and that’s been difficult,” she said. “So we remain open to working on this, and we remain open to collaboration, both bilaterally and in terms of the NATO-Russia track, but Russia has not been as open to that as we’d like them to be,” the spokeswoman said. Moscow has been irked by U.S. plans to deploy missile defense elements in Europe. NATO and the United States insist that the shield would defend NATO members against missiles from North Korea and Iran and would not be directed at Russia. Russia proposed a joint missile defense system, an idea that many experts both at home and abroad dismiss as unviable and unrealistic. Then it demanded “legally binding guarantees” that U.S./NATO missiles would not be targeted at Russia. Since Moscow’s proposal received a lukewarm response in the West, it has been warning of unspecified low-cost “asymmetric measures” to counter the future Western missile defense system. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |