Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 23 / Trend A.Gasimova /
The idea of a joint missile defense system (MDS) between Russia and NATO can be realized only if equality is ensured for all of the countries concerned, Chief Editor of the Russian Rodina magazine and Moscow State University History Professor Yuri Borisenok said this week.
A Russia-NATO agreement on joint work to develop a MDS in Europe was the main result of a NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon last Saturday.
The joint MDS can be created in the mid-term. According to experts, connecting existing U.S. and European anti-missile systems will require an investment of 200 million euro. About 10 years will be needed to develop such a system.
"The realization of a joint MDS is only possible if equality is guaranteed for all partners, and certainly Russia should participate in this on equal footing," Borisenok said.
According to the professor, the Lisbon summit marked the beginning of NATO-Russia relations as normal partners.
"That is, the complications that have developed since August 2008 have been overcome, and a normal partnership has commenced based on vital issues such as cooperation in Afghanistan, on issues such as drug trafficking and possibly in terms of creating a MDS," he said.
For the first time in its 60 years of existence, NATO stated at the summit that Russia is not an enemy, Borisenok said.
"Now the situation has changed," he said. "The military bloc could turn into some other type of structure - and what kind we have no idea. Because if Russia is no longer the enemy, then that means that NATO's existence has radically changed. It is really a breakthrough in our foreign policy, which can only be welcomed."