NATO hopes Russia - US will reach agreement on missile defense

Published 24-05-2013, 08:03

The fact that NATO has no legal obligations in the sphere of missile defense does not mean that agreements reached in this sphere will not be fulfilled, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Dirk Brengelmann said.

The NATO-Russia Founding Act, which was signed 15 years ago, is also a political statement and is binding, Brengelmann said during a meeting with Russian journalists.

Brengelmann said NATO expressed its readiness to assure Russia that the global missile defense system is not targeted against the Russian strategic potential back at the Chicago summit, but Russia demanded legal guarantees of that.

Brengelmann recalled that Tom Donilon, national security advisor in the US administration, has recently visited Moscow and gave the Russian administration a message on missile defense, and a Russian delegation that gave a response to US President Barrack Obama is currently in Washington.

Brengelmann said he does not know how the negotiations ended and what Putin said in his response to Obama, but would like to believe that an agreement will be reached.

The message sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin to his U.S. counterpart Barrack Obama is not a direct response to Obama's letter, but outlines Russia's goals and reference points on bilateral and international issues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday.

"I would not say that this message is a response to Obama's message in the direct sense of this word because constant dialogue is going on and we have questions that the Russian president stated in his letter to Obama in a detailed and clear way. They outline our goals and reference points, not react to some U.S. proposals," Ryabkov said on Thursday.

Voice of Russia