U.S., Russia Talk BMD

U.S. and Russian officials held a missile defense meeting in Brussels on May 2, according to a joint statement released by the Defense Department this afternoon. Russian Federation Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov and U.S. Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller headed their respective delegations, the statement reads. Further:

The meetings of this group support implementation of the decisions by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama to explore ways to cooperate on missile defense and to implement any agreements that may be reached.

The results of these consultations should become U.S. and Russian defense authorities’ contribution to the development of a comprehensive joint analysis of the future framework for missile defense cooperation. This builds on the decisions taken by the heads of state and government at the NATO-Russia Council Summit in Lisbon. The U.S. and Russian delegations discussed various military technical aspects of potential missile defense cooperation in Europe, which should not adversely affect strategic stability.