Foreign and defence ministers from Russia and the United States want to negotiate the common use of a radar station in Azerbaijan in October, reports in Moscow said Thursday according to DPA. Boris Malakhov, the deputy spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, confirmed this in a report by the Interfax news agency. Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed the radar system in Gabala in the north of Azerbaijan to US President George W Bush as an alternative to the disputed US anti-missile defence shield plans in Central Europe. At the end of July, representatives from Russia and the US had held good initial talks about the controversial US plans, according to the US State Department. The possibilities for cooperation in the protection against attacks using long-range missiles and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction were also discussed. Washington has said it wants to place 10 defence missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic to shield itself against possible attacks by "rogue" states. Russia, however, wants to prevent this, reported DPA.
