iranigirl2
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WARSAW—The U.S. is going ahead with its missile defense plans for Europe despite improving relations with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday, two days before the next round of nuclear negotiations with Iran in Geneva.
The U.S. expects to put land-based missile interceptors in northern Poland by 2018, three years after a site in Romania is expected to become operational. The base in Poland will seek to protect Europe and the U.S. from missile attacks that could be launched mainly from Iran.
On the only European stop of his weeklong tour that centers on the Middle East, Mr. Kerry was asked Tuesday if that element of the system could be abandoned, considering U.S. diplomacy and international talks going on with Iran over its nuclear program. Mr. Kerry said that those talks wouldn't change the U.S. plan for Europe.
"There is no agreement with Iran, nothing has changed and the plans for missile defense are absolutely on target," Mr. Kerry said. "We intend to provide for the next phase by 2018 and will deploy that site by that period of time. Nothing has changed at this point and I don't foresee it changing."
A group of major powers—the U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany—are set to meet an Iranian delegation in Geneva this week to talk about the country's nuclear program. Negotiations were revived after Hasan Rouhani, considered centrist, became Iran's president in August.
Under a previous missile-defense plan for Europe devised by former President George W. Bush, Poland was to become a defense site in 2015 to protect the continent from ballistic threats. The prospect led to angry protests from Russia, which threatened to install more missiles in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad in response because it believed the system put close to Russia's borders would reduce its deterrent capabilities.
President Barack Obama in 2009 proposed a new, scaled-down setup that was at the time more acceptable for the Kremlin, prompting officials in Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since 1999, to publicly question U.S. commitment to Polish security.
Faced with an increasingly resurgent Russia, its former communist-era overlord, Poland plans to invest about $45 billion by 2022 in new military equipment. Mr. Kerry said U.S. companies would "compete vigorously" for contracts that will be part of that program.
Separately, Mr. Kerry urged "the Russians, the Iranians and others who support the Syrian regime" to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend talks aimed at introducing a transition government in the country torn by civil war.
"One thing is certain: there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria," he said.
Speaking at a news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Mr. Kerry also said the U.S. will speak with European governments to address their "legitimate" questions over electronic eavesdropping by U.S. intelligence services. Allegations that the National Security Agency intercepted communication of world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, have irked the Europeans.
Mr. Kerry said he hopes the outrage won't complicate the second round of talks, set to start next week in Brussels, on a proposed free trade area between the U.S. and the European Union.
"This is a trade partnership," Mr. Kerry said. "The trans-Atlantic trade partnership is really separate from and different from any other issues that people might have on their minds…That should not be confused with whatever legitimate questions exist with respect of NSA or any other activities."
"If we get it right, which we will, we can not only alleviate concerns but we can actually strengthen our intelligence relationships going forward and we can all be more secure and safer as a result as well as protecting privacy of our citizens," he said.
Corrections & Amplifications
There have been allegations that the National Security Agency intercepted the communications of French President François Hollande. An earlier version of this article misspelled his name.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303661404579179492898678338
The U.S. expects to put land-based missile interceptors in northern Poland by 2018, three years after a site in Romania is expected to become operational. The base in Poland will seek to protect Europe and the U.S. from missile attacks that could be launched mainly from Iran.
On the only European stop of his weeklong tour that centers on the Middle East, Mr. Kerry was asked Tuesday if that element of the system could be abandoned, considering U.S. diplomacy and international talks going on with Iran over its nuclear program. Mr. Kerry said that those talks wouldn't change the U.S. plan for Europe.
"There is no agreement with Iran, nothing has changed and the plans for missile defense are absolutely on target," Mr. Kerry said. "We intend to provide for the next phase by 2018 and will deploy that site by that period of time. Nothing has changed at this point and I don't foresee it changing."
A group of major powers—the U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany—are set to meet an Iranian delegation in Geneva this week to talk about the country's nuclear program. Negotiations were revived after Hasan Rouhani, considered centrist, became Iran's president in August.
Under a previous missile-defense plan for Europe devised by former President George W. Bush, Poland was to become a defense site in 2015 to protect the continent from ballistic threats. The prospect led to angry protests from Russia, which threatened to install more missiles in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad in response because it believed the system put close to Russia's borders would reduce its deterrent capabilities.
President Barack Obama in 2009 proposed a new, scaled-down setup that was at the time more acceptable for the Kremlin, prompting officials in Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since 1999, to publicly question U.S. commitment to Polish security.
Faced with an increasingly resurgent Russia, its former communist-era overlord, Poland plans to invest about $45 billion by 2022 in new military equipment. Mr. Kerry said U.S. companies would "compete vigorously" for contracts that will be part of that program.
Separately, Mr. Kerry urged "the Russians, the Iranians and others who support the Syrian regime" to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend talks aimed at introducing a transition government in the country torn by civil war.
"One thing is certain: there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria," he said.
Speaking at a news conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Mr. Kerry also said the U.S. will speak with European governments to address their "legitimate" questions over electronic eavesdropping by U.S. intelligence services. Allegations that the National Security Agency intercepted communication of world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande, have irked the Europeans.
Mr. Kerry said he hopes the outrage won't complicate the second round of talks, set to start next week in Brussels, on a proposed free trade area between the U.S. and the European Union.
"This is a trade partnership," Mr. Kerry said. "The trans-Atlantic trade partnership is really separate from and different from any other issues that people might have on their minds…That should not be confused with whatever legitimate questions exist with respect of NSA or any other activities."
"If we get it right, which we will, we can not only alleviate concerns but we can actually strengthen our intelligence relationships going forward and we can all be more secure and safer as a result as well as protecting privacy of our citizens," he said.
Corrections & Amplifications
There have been allegations that the National Security Agency intercepted the communications of French President François Hollande. An earlier version of this article misspelled his name.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303661404579179492898678338
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