missile defense cooperation

President George W. Bush, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso

President Bush Addresses Missile Defense at U.S. - EU Summit

Speaking with reporters at the U.S.-EU Summit April 30 in Washington, President Bush underscored his intention to communicate clearly with Russia the shared U.S., European, and Russian security interest in missile defense cooperation.

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Q    Mr. President, concerning the nuclear dispute about missile defense, missile defense with Moscow, what concrete steps are you planning to convince President Putin that this is a good idea of NATO and the U.S.?  And can the German Chancellor help you on this issue?

PRESIDENT BUSH:  As you know, I'm having a regular conversation with the German Chancellor.  We have a secure video that is beamed in the White House and her office, and so we consult regularly.  And she expressed her concerns that the U.S. position wasn't really clear about the missile defense systems and that there were some people concerned in Germany, as well as Europe, about our intentions.  And she also suggested that it might make sense for me to share my intentions more clearly with President Putin.  And I took her advice very seriously.
Our intention, of course, is to have a defense system that prevents rogue regimes from holding Western Europe, and/or America, to hostage.  Evidently, the Russians view it differently.  And so upon the advice of the Chancellor, I asked Secretary Gates to go to Moscow, where he had a very constructive meeting with President Putin.  I called President Putin and asked him to see Secretary Gates, and that we would put forth an interesting information-sharing proposal.
Our intention is to say to Russia that the system is something you ought to think about participating in.  It's in your interest to have a system that could prevent a future Iranian regime, for example, from launching a weapon -- it's in Russia's security interests.  And therefore, we have started a dialogue, as a result of Secretary Gates's visit, that hopefully will make explicit our intentions, and hopefully present an opportunity to share with the Russians, so that they don't see us as an antagonistic force, but see us as a friendly force.

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