US SECRETARY of state Hillary Clinton has said missile defence would remain part of Europe’s defence strategy if it proved to be technically feasible and cost effective.
She has also praised the governments and peoples of the Czech Republic and Poland for showing “visionary leadership” in agreeing to host the controversial system on their territory.
“We believe the US and Russia can co-operate on missile defence through joint research and even joint deployment in the future . . . it is intended to be a defensive response vis-a -vis Iran and other actors,” Mrs Clinton told journalists in Brussels before flying on to Geneva to hold her first substantive talks with Russia foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
The issue of missile defence has poisoned relations between Russia and the US, with Moscow viewing the system as a threat to its own security. This week a leaked letter from President Barack Obama to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, suggested the US might sacrifice the missile shield if Moscow helped prevent Iran develop nuclear weapons.
Mrs Clinton’s comments suggest the US could proceed with the controversial missile shield even though the new Obama administration has set out to restore relations with Moscow after the war in Georgia. Her dinner with Mr Lavrov last night was intended to try to ease tensions that reached a low during the latter days of the Bush administration.
In an interview with the BBC Mrs Clinton criticised the previous US administration’s “confrontational approach” towards Russia. “How much that contributed to Russian behaviour I think is a legitimate question to ask,” said Mrs Clinton, who added that there were areas – such as Georgia – where Washington and Moscow “just flat out disagree”.
A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said one of the main tasks of the meeting between Mr Lavrov and Mrs Clinton was to “define the mood” of relations. “We await with cautious optimism the outcome of these talks,” he told the Interfax news agency.
At a town hall style meeting with young people at the European Parliament earlier, Mrs Clinton also promised a break with past policies on climate change.
“Certainly the United States has been negligent in living up to its responsibilities,” she said. “This is a propitious time . . . we can actually begin to demonstrate our willingness to confront this.”
Mrs Clinton later told journalists that the US was committed to setting up a cap and trade system to reduce CO2 emissions and was investing in upgrades to its energy grids and green technology. She said it was very important that China, which had recently surpassed the US as the world’s largest emitter, had expressed a willingness to participate in the climate change talks in Copenhagen this year.
Reuters adds: Speaking after the meeting with Mrs Clinton last night, Mr Lavrov said Russia and the US would soon try to reach agreements on Iran and North Korea and that Russia would co-operate with a US-sponsored conference on Afghanistan.