Russia doesn’t give up missile shield talks with U.S.November 19, 2011 - 14:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia does not give up missile shield talks with the United States, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday, November 19, during the East Asia Summit. "We are not closing the door in any case, we will continue working with the Americans within NATO-Russia Council, but we will continue working on the basis of our position that no-targeting guarantees are needed," Lavrov said. "We do not evade the issue despite the fact that we do not see any progress in an unclear for us position of the U.S. which refuses to seal clear guarantees of no-targeting of this system against Russian strategic nuclear arsenal and refuse to work out relevant military, technical and other criteria aimed at providing such guarantees," he added, RIA Novosti reported. In October, Moscow's NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said Russian talks with the United States on missile defense had hit a dead end. The Kremlin says the U.S. expanding anti-missile system in Europe is a potential threat to Russian nuclear arsenal, while Washington tries to convince Moscow that the system poses no threat to Russia and is needed to protect against missiles that could be fired by countries with smaller arsenals such as Iran. The missile shield dispute between Russia and the U.S. has undermined efforts to build on improvements in relations between the former Cold War foes and is intensified by Russia's uncertainty of U.S. policy after the November 2012 presidential elections. 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 | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. 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. |