Russia, NATO set to cooperate on missile defense

Russia has proposed setting up a Russian-NATO radar data exchange center for tracking ballistic missile launches. Igor Korotchenko, who sits on the Russian Defense Ministry’s Public Council, has described the proposal as the first step towards a common European missile defense system.

Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on creating a European missile defense system at a summit in Lisbon in November 2010. Since then Russian and NATO representatives have been discussing Russia’s role in the project. "An information exchange center is the first step in this direction," Igor Korotchenko says.

"Setting up a center to track ballistic missile launches should be no problem, the expert says. The next step will be to set up a center which would determine where the threat is coming from. For today, NATO reports 20 potentially dangerous sources but names only two countries – Iran and North Korea."

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