A US State Department official on Saturday called for an integration of ideas from Russia and the United States over the controversial US missile defence system planned for central Europe, the Interfax news agency reported. Daniel Fried, speaking from the Azerbaijan capital Baku, said the best solution would be to create a joint transparent system to improve the security of both sides, according to DPA. The US plans could be combined with Russia's suggestion of the use of radar stations in Azerbaijan and southern Russia, he said. Russian President Valdimir Putin on Saturday watched a demonstration of the capabilities of a new type of radar station - the Voronesh near the city of St Petersburg - designed to protect Russian cities from missiles fired from abroad. "We're calling this an innovative further development of the defence forces," he said, praising the systems price, effectiveness and dependability. The original US plans to station 10 missile defence batteries in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic was vehemently opposed by Russia. Putin in the end offered the joint use of Azerbaijani and Russian facilities. The US government said that they would look into the suggestion, but made clear that it was not a replacement for its facilities originally envisioned.
