Rice wants to work with Russia on defense shield

Washington, Apr 21: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today met her Czech counterpart to discuss a new anti-missile shield Moscow opposes and said Washington was working hard to cooperate with Russia on the issue.

The United States wants to deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland by 2012 as part of a new multibillion-dollar system designed to shoot down missiles that could be fired at the United States and its allies by states like Iran and North Korea.

Russia sees the plan as encroachment on its former sphere of influence and has warned the West it could revive a Cold War arms race. Some European countries are also skeptical.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice had discussed the issue during a meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

''The secretary underlined for the foreign minister that the United States is quite serious about working with the Russian government on missile defense,'' said McCormack.

He said Assistant Secretary of State John Rood had made a presentation to Russian officials about the ''possibilities'' for cooperation on missile defense.

''Certainly we hope that the Russian government takes a serious look at it because it was a serious offer,'' McCormack told reporters.

The United States has being trying for months to allay Russian concerns over the missile shield and tried again on Thursday during meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The issue is expected to be prominent at a NATO meeting in Oslo next week which foreign ministers will attend.

Speaking before Friday's meeting, Rice said the world faced a range of threats, including terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

''I look forward to discussions with my colleague about ways that we might protect ourselves against those threats, including through missile defense,'' Rice said.

Schwarzenberg agreed potential dangers should be confronted, adding, ''We have to see them realistically.'' The Czech foreign minister said last month that while the Czech Republic would listen to Russian concerns over the US missile shield, they were of marginal importance.

Reuters