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KIEV, (RIA Novosti) – The United States does not
plan to establish an anti-missile defense system in
Georgia or Ukraine, Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said
Tuesday.
“There are no plans to place missile defense systems
in Georgia or in Ukraine, either now or in the
future,” she said at a briefing in Kiev on Tuesday.
Earlier US President Barack Obama stated that the
United States intended to strengthen its presence in
Eastern Europe and he would ask Congress to allocate
an additional $1 billion. According to Obama, the
United States would guarantee security not just to
NATO member countries, but to their allies as well,
including Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.
NATO introduced several measures explained by the
need to ensure security of its allies. Baltic Air
Policing missions were intensified and
additional NATO ships were sent to the Baltic and the
Mediterranean seas.
NATO also declared an increase in permanent troop
deployment, expansion of training programs,
strengthening of early warning systems and improving
the capacity of response forces.
In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
stated on Monday that NATO’s continuing efforts to
expand closer to the Russian borders are
counterproductive and in violation of obligations
taken by the Alliance in the framework of several
international agreements.
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