The Pentagon has said that Russian radar equipment in Azerbaijan is incapable of posing as an alternative to the U.S. planned missile defense system in the Czech Republic, following an inspection of the Soviet-era early warning system by U.S. experts, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The visit to Azerbaijan by a high-level delegation of U.S. missile experts was in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to use the Russian radar as an alternative to America's planned new missile-defense construction in Central Europe, which is aimed at defending against a possible Iranian threat, the report said.
It was the first time American military officers had been allowed into Russia's radar facility.
Henry Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, pressed the Kremlin to drop its objections to American proposals for 10 missile interceptors in Poland and the radar system in the Czech Republic, the report said.
Obering also urged Moscow to link its radar system in Azerbaijan into the proposed American one in Central Europe, running them in tandem, the report added.
The United States claimed the missile defense system would be aimed at states and groups in the Middle East that are seeking weapons of mass destruction, not against Russia.
The U.S. wants to base missile interceptors in Poland and radar units in the Czech Republic as part of a project to extend the missile defense system to Europe. The plan is strongly opposed by Russia.
Source: Xinhua
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