Appathurai also said delegates agreed that the proposed antimissile shield does not pose any threat to Russia.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at a news conference that "10 interceptor [missiles] will not, cannot and will not, effect the strategic
balance, and 10 interceptors can also not pose a threat to Russia."
However, a Russian delegation that met with NATO officials reiterated Russia's opposition to the plan.
Envoy Konstantin Totsky said Russia objects to the decision being made unilaterally, and said Russia is prepared for "constructive dialogue."
"We cannot easily accept that now, in Europe, for the first time since the end
of the Cold War, there is a deployment of a first strategic element," Totsky said. "And we are
against the fact that such decisions are made unilaterally."
(compiled from agency reports)
Russia And The EU
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) with EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana in Sochi in May 2006 (epa)
A POLICY OF APPEASEMENT? Ralf Fuecks, head of the Heinrich Boell Foundation and a Green Party activist, spoke at RFE/RL's Prague broadcast center about the EU's complex relations with a resurgent Russia. RFE/RL President Jeff Gedmin moderated the discussion.
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