Gates: Missile Shield Plans Not Changing

Jun 15, 08:52 AM

Current Headlines: U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Brussels that the U.S. plan for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe won't be altered.

Gates welcomed an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to use a radar base in Azerbaijan in lieu of installing parts of the defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic but said the system would be installed as planned, The New York Times reported Friday.

The defense secretary said the Azerbaijan radar could be a valuable compliment to the system but would not be an effective substitute.

I was very explicit in the meeting that we saw the Azeri radar as an additional capability, that we intended to proceed with the radar, the X-band radar, in the Czech Republic, Gates said after a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Anatoly Serdyukov.

Gates had earlier secured NATO's approval of the system at a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels, despite concerns that the plan could damage relations with Russia for involved countries.