Lt. Gen. Jurgen Bornemann, the Director General of the International Military Staff of NATO, will arrive on Wednesday in Moscow to discuss military cooperation with Russia and the European missile shield.
“General Bornemann will meet with Col. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, to discuss the status of NATO-Russia military cooperation and the situation around the planned deployment of the European missile shield,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia and NATO tentatively agreed to cooperate on the European missile defense network at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010 but differences in approaches toward the project led to a deadlock in negotiations.
The Kremlin says the deployment of U.S. interceptor missiles and radars in Europe is a potential threat to the Russian nuclear arsenal, while Washington is trying to convince Moscow that the European missile shield poses no threat to Russia, as it is needed solely to protect against attack from "rogue states" such as Iran.
Russia is seeking written, legally binding guarantees that the missile shield will not be directed against it. However, Washington has refused to provide those guarantees to Moscow and said it will not alter its missile defense plans despite increasingly tough rhetoric from Moscow.
A new early warning radar capable of monitoring missile launches from Europe and the North Atlantic, was put in service in the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad on Tuesday as part of Russia’s response to the European missile shield plans.
Russia may also deploy Iskander tactical missiles close to its borders with NATO countries in the near future.
