DUSHANBE, June 5, Asia-Plus – President George W. Bush will discuss U.S. missile defense plans in Europe as part of his eight-day tour of seven European countries starting later Monday, the White House said.
Bush is visiting the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Italy, the Vatican, Albania, and Bulgaria.
He arrived in Prague Monday evening and is meeting today with the Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to discuss, among other things, the deployment of a U.S. missile defense radar there and will meet with Polish President Lech Kaczynski Friday to address the deployment of interceptor missiles. Bush previously said the defense systems were not directed against Russia.
In an interview with the German TV channel ZDF, Bush said he expected to discuss the issue with Putin and ease his concerns during the Group of Eight summit in Germany and also during Putin”s visit to the U.S. in July. Bush said the missile shield was designed to defend U.S. allies in NATO, and proposed that Russia join the project too. He promised the technologies would be completely transparent and invited Russian experts to visit the sites and talk to U.S. military personnel. Bush reiterated that the missile shield was aimed at “rogue states” that could obtain nuclear weapons.
In the meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow that if the U.S. missile-defense plan goes forward, Russia could retaliate by pointing its missiles at targets in Europe. “If a new missile-defense system will be deployed in Europe, then we need to warn you today that we will come with a response,” Putin said. “We have to ensure our security, and we are not the initiator of this process.”
