Russia will provide a strategic level response to the US plans on ABM deployment in Europe, said the Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergei Lavrov. According to the Minister, the US places the ABM on Russian borders within the ' Russia's deterrence' policy, RIA Novosti reports. The US unilateral plans on ABM deployment in Europe are aimed at Russia's 'deterrence mentality', Lavrov said in an interview in Global Affairs magazine.
"It can hardly be incidental that an air defense base in Europe, due to be deployed along Russia's borders, coincides with the US ABM global system," the Russian Minister said.
"Many people in Europe voice concern that the US ABM deployment will have a negative impact on disarmament," he said. According to Lavrov, the Russian President's proposal on the joint use of the Gabala Radar Station in Azerbaijan and his recent initiatives on creating a regional monitoring system and the early warning system give an opportunity to settle the difficult situation without any damage to the dignity of all sides.
As our first step in this aspect, we are ready to carry out an analysis of potential missile threats in cooperation with other sides, primarily with European partners, Lavrov said. The Minister considers that such cooperation may lead to a change in US-Russian relations and bring them to a higher, reliable level. "The sides would trust each other. Now the countries miss this. Mutual trust will allow the sides to develop global strategic ally relations and move towards a new multilateral collective security system," the Russian Minister concluded.