No new arms race despite U.S. missile plan: Russia (Reuters)

[Eugene]

No new arms race despite U.S. missile plan: Russia

By Ben Harding

Fri Feb 9, 11:36 AM ET

SEVILLE, Spain (Reuters) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Friday rejected
U.S. arguments for deploying an anti-missile defense system in eastern Europe and
insisted Russia would not be drawn into a Cold War-style arms race.

Ivanov said there was no need to base part of the system in NATO countries Poland and
the Czech Republic to defend the United States from rockets launched in Iran and North
Korea, as Washington argues.

"Any expert can prove the flight trajectory of the missile will be very far from the Czech
Republic and Poland, so what is the real intention of these activities?," Ivanov said at a
news conference after meeting NATO counterparts.

Russia has expressed alarm at the growing military advantage of the United States and its
European allies. It wants a binding pledge from Washington that the anti-missile system
would not be aimed at them, one Russian official was quoted by Interfax news agency as
saying this week.

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Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070209/wl_nm/missiles_russia_dc