Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov said on Friday that his country will consider a joint U.S.-Russian use of a radar facility in the country as part of a missile defense system plan.

The foreign minister told reporters that the proposal will improve regional security, noting that "Azerbaijan is ready for such negotiations."

He added that his country could hold bilateral or trilateral talks with Russia and the United States on the proposal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush on Thursday that Moscow would not oppose a U.S. plan for a radar-based missile defense system if it was deployed in Azerbaijan instead of Eastern Europe.

Washington plans to place a radar system in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland in the name of defending possible attacks from "rogue states."

Russia has accused Washington of raising a new arms race in the region, which Washington denies.

Source: Xinhua