Russia Says U.S. May Extend Missile Shield to Bulgaria, Turkey

By Ilya Arkhipov and Henry Meyer - May 20, 2011

Russia is concerned the U.S. may expand its planned missile shield in Poland and Romania to other eastern European countries and Turkey, a senior military official said.

“Russia is deeply concerned that after Poland and Romania, elements of U.S. missile defense will emerge in the Czech Republic, Turkey, Bulgaria and some other NATO members,” the deputy chief of Russia’s general staff, Valery Gerasimov, told foreign diplomats today in Moscow. “In the future, it may create risks for Russian strategic nuclear forces.”

A U.S. factsheet on its proposed missile shield, published May 3, mentions only Romania and Poland as sites where hardware would be based. The U.S. embassy in Moscow declined to comment.

Russian leaders complain the shield, which the U.S. says is needed to guard against threats from countries such as Iran, will blunt their nuclear deterrent. They have warned of a new arms race within the next decade unless the U.S. and its allies agree to cooperate with Russia on missile defense.

Russia may quit a nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. if it doesn’t get legally enforceable guarantees it won’t be targeted by the shield, President Dmitry Medvedev said May 18.

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/russia-says-u-s-may-extend-missile-shield-to-bulgaria-turkey.html.