Bush says Russia not a threat to Europe

Caren Bohan
Reuters
Wednesday June 6, 2007 

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that Russia posed no threat to Europe despite its vow to target the continent if the U.S. deploys a missile shield in central Europe.

"Russia is not going to attack Europe," Bush told reporters at the start of a G8 summit on the Baltic coast.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will come face to face with Bush at the summit, said last week Russia would resume its Cold War stance of targeting missiles at Europe if Washington goes ahead with the planned shield near Russia's borders.

However, a Kremlin official played down the comments on Wednesday, calling the suggestion a "hypothetical" option.

"It was not some kind of threatening statement on the part of Mr Putin. He was just asked by a journalist if he would be ready, hypothetically to consider re-targeting ... and he confirmed that that would be one of the ways Russia could respond," said Kremlin deputy spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Putin's threat has overshadowed the build up to the G8 summit, which is meant to focus on fighting climate change and aiding Africa, but Bush has sought to minimize their impact.

Asked if the U.S. military should respond in some way to Putin's warning, Bush said that was not needed.

"As I said yesterday, Russia is not an enemy. There needs to be no military response because we are not at war with Russia," Bush told reporters traveling with him.

The European Union called Putin's comments inappropriate and unhelpful. "This Cold War rhetoric for me makes no sense," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm. "We are not targeting Russia."

Bush acknowledged that U.S. relations with Russia, which observers say have been brought to their lowest point in years by differences over the missile shield, were "complex."

"I think if you look at the history of our relationship, there have been moments where we've agreed and moments where we've disagreed," he said.

He said he hoped to use the summit, including a bilateral meeting with Putin on Thursday, to soothe Russian concerns.

"I will continue to work with President Putin -- Vladimir Putin -- to explain to him that this (the missile shield) is not aimed at him," Bush said. Asked if the meeting with Putin would be tense, Bush said: "I'll work to see to it, that it's not."

ROGUE STATES

Washington wants to site elements of its planned missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. It says the systems are needed to defend against possible missile attacks from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

The Kremlin is fiercely opposed to the plan, saying the shield upsets the global strategic balance. Putin has voiced suspicions that the project is really targeted at Russia.

Bush stood by his position that the missile shield was necessary and a response to real threats.

"I think it's important to make sure we have a system to protect ourselves against the threats of the 21st century -- the true threats."

Putin's threat to point Russian missiles at targets in Europe is a powerful symbol of growing tension with the West but it has limited practical significance.

Since the Cold War ended, Russia has not been explicitly pointing its arsenal at locations in Europe. Yet even before Putin issued his warning, re-aiming missiles to target a particular site could be done in a matter of minutes.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Christian Lowe)

Reader Comments Print Friendly Page Yahoo! MyWeb Del.icio.us Digg Reddit Email This Page to: INFOWARS: BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND