U.S. missile shift tied to Russian nuke talks

The Obama administration Thursday implemented a seismic shift in U.S. security strategy, abandoning its predecessor’s plan for ground-based missile defenses in Eastern Europe and possibly improving the prospects for a new nuclear arms reduction agreement with Russia.

The White House said the decision had nothing to do with Russia - which saw the old missile-defense plan slated for Poland and the Czech Republic as aimed at it, not Iran - and everything to do with a new intelligence estimate that shows Iran producing large numbers of short- and midrange missiles instead of longer-range ballistic systems.

“This is not about Russia,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

President Obama said, however, that he “welcome* Russia’s cooperation” on missile defense going forward.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev praised the U.S. decision, calling it a “responsible move,” the Associated Press reported.

Speaking on state-run TV, Mr. Medvedev said he and Mr. Obama had discussed the issue of missile proliferation in their meetings earlier this year in London and Moscow and had agreed to work together to reduce that risk.

“The announcement made today in Washington shows that the conditions for such work are not bad,” Mr. Medvedev said.

“We appreciate this responsible move by the U.S. president toward realizing our agreement,” he said. “I am prepared to continue the dialogue.”

U.S. officials said they would instead use Patriot missiles and newly developed SM-3 missiles that intercept enemy launches before an offensive missile enters the atmosphere to contend with an Iranian threat. The latter system would be deployed initially on U.S. ships in the Mediterranean, not in Russia’s old area of influence in Eastern Europe.

Analysts focused on the impact the decision may have on negotiations with Russia next week in New York over reducing nuclear arms stockpiles. Both governments have said they hope for a deal by December.

“With the missile-defense issue removed from center stage, both sides now have to get serious about numbers [of warheads],” said Toby Gati, a key adviser on Russia to President Clinton. “There should now be, if not a green light, then a strong yellow light to negotiate a new arms reduction agreement.”

The president’s decision to scrap plans crafted under President George W. Bush in exchange for what Mr. Obama called a “stronger, smarter and swifter” system coincided with the proposed sale of Patriot missiles to Turkey, a NATO ally that borders Iran.

The White House last week notified Congress of the proposed sale of $7.8 billion worth of anti-missile Patriot Pac-3 batteries to Ankara. That has set off speculation that Turkey will be part of the new Washington strategy.

“Maybe there’s no connection, but there’s a lot of speculation within Turkey that there is a connection,” said Bulent Aliriza, director of the Turkey Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He visited Turkey a week ago.

The Patriot missiles, however, can defend against incoming missiles only when the projectile is near its target.

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