U.S., Russian defense chiefs meet on bilateral relations

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov, in Alaska on Sunday to discuss bilateral military relations and issues concerning the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Iran and Afghanistan.

After his closed-door meeting with Ivanov, Rumsfeld told a joint news conference in Fairbanks, a city in central Alaska, that the United States was looking into substituting the nuclear warheads of a relatively small number of ballistic missiles with conventional explosives, U.S. media reported.

The measure would make the missiles a less lethal and more conceivable option for accurately and quickly targeting terrorist groups that posed a deadly threat, he said.

Rumsfeld said Washington hoped the Russian government would decide to do the same thing. The proposal, however, was rejected by Ivanov.

The Russian defense minister said the plans raised a number of concerns for Russia, and therefore his nation would not be joining the initiative.

Before the meeting, Rumsfeld visited Fort Greely, Alaska, where the U.S. military has installed 10 anti-ballistic missiles in underground silos, part of the missile defense system.

After the visit, Rumsfeld said the "real threat" from the DPRK in the immediate future was more to do with proliferation than its being a danger to South Korea.

Source: Xinhua