Though the Ruskies still aren’t happy about it:
Sounds like diplo-fluff to me. Quite frankly, I don’t blame the Russians for throwing a fit over the proposed missile defense radar and interceptors. If they wanted to stand up similiar installations in Canada, we’d be reacting the exact same way. It’s not that a few interceptors aimed at containing Iranian Shahabs would stop a full-out, over the pole ICBM lay down between the United States and Russia, but rather the simple fact that the boost-phase interceptors will jumble up Ivan’s targeting equation something awful. I’ve heard stories about the condition of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces from U.S. START Treaty inspectors: launcher tubes filled with water, hatches that won’t blow when the missile is released, rocket fuel leaks, etc. They need all of the working missiles that they’ve got just to cover the bare minimum of targets needed to maintain effective deterrence. So I suspect that when Putin meets with NATO in April, the only benefit of Russia’s analysis will be that their “no” comes with a polite smile.
