Medvedev to Discuss Missile Defense During U.S. Visit

Russia President Dmitry Medvedev with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama

From RIA Novosti:  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to visit the United States in June to boost Russian-U.S. cooperation in various spheres, including trade and the high-tech industry.

"This [the U.S. missile defense plans in Europe] will be one of the topics for discussion; we have high expectations of this summit," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russia’s Kommersant daily.

"We have not yet agreed on this [missile defense] issue and we are trying to clarify how the agreements reached by the two presidents…correlate with the actions taken unilaterally by Washington," Lavrov said, adding that the Obama administration had not coordinated its missile defense plans with Russia. …

The United States opened in May a temporary military base near the northern Polish town of Morag, 80 km (50 miles) from the border of Russia’s Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, in accordance with an agreement negotiated under former President George Bush in 2008.

U.S. troops will be deployed to train Polish forces at the site until 2012, when the base is expected to become permanent. Moscow has expressed concern over the base’s proximity to the Russian border and suggested that it be moved to a different location.  (photo: RIA Novosti)

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