From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 10/29/2007 4:37 PM Monday, October 29, 2007 Volume 11 Number 200
PUTIN COMPARES MISSILE DEFENSE TO CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS...
President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia-EU summit in Mafra, Portugal, on October 26 that the planned U.S. missile-defense system, which will include components in Poland and the Czech Republic, is comparable to the Soviets' installation of missiles in Cuba, which led to the crisis of 1962, international media reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," October 25 and 26, 2007). He argued that "analogous actions by the Soviet Union, when it deployed missiles on Cuba, caused the Caribbean [missile] crisis. For us, the [current] situation is technically very similar.... Threats to our country are now being created on our borders." Putin stressed nonetheless that "I fully agree with [U.S.] President [George W.] Bush when he says that the United States and [Russia] are no longer enemies. We are partners. My personal relationship of trust with President Bush certainly helps smooth such problems over. And just as he calls me his friend, I have every reason to call him my personal friend." Putin noted that trade between Russia and the EU is growing "at an unprecedented pace" despite what he called differences on political matters. Putin said that he hopes that the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which expires in December, will be automatically extended for another year in the absence of a new treaty. He also repeated Russia's proposal "to continue our work in setting up an early-warning mechanism for the supply and demand for energy resources from Russia to the European Union. It is based on exchange of information about potential problems and ways to resolve them." PM
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