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>>  We blogged earlier this week that the Ukraine may be part of our country’s new missile defense shield plans. According to RIA Novosti, Ukraine’s president said the U.S. has yet to ask his country to host shields.

Such facilities in the Ukraine would be part of an early warning radar system, although it already has two missile radar systems. When Barack Obama dropped plans to deploy missile defense shields to Central Europe, Russia was pleased. But the former Soviet Union apparently reflected on the decision and realized it may not like the new plans, either. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov said, “We would like to receive full clarification.”

Russia and the U.S. seem to have different ideas about which countries pose the greatest nuclear threat. Russia doesn’t believe Iran’s missiles can reach Europe, and the U.S. doesn’t want to downplay Iran’s capabilities. Whether Hillary Clinton accomplished anything significant in Russia remains to be seen.

>>  In recent talks with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer at Forum 2000, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak expressed concern about Iran.

“Iran is a threat to the entire world and not just Israel,” he said. “The international community needs to unite together against this threat and recruit countries like Russia, China and India. Israel believes that everything needs to be done to stop Iran from becoming nuclear.” (Source)

>>  North Korea seeks bilateral talks with the U.S. and remain uninterested in six-party talks. The country invited U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth to meet with leaders to discuss the matter, but there’s been no official acceptance.

North Korea walked out on discussions in April. The State Department’s Phillip Crowley said, “We continue our close consultations with the other partners in the Six-Party process, but our position remains the same: North Korea has to eventually come back to the Six-Party process and recommit towards denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” (Source)

 
Last month President Barack Obama dropped plans to build missile defense shields in Poland and the Czech Republic, claiming that he wants to focus on proven and cost-effective technology that will aid in defending against Iran’s shorter-range missiles rather than long-range. The decision was seen as a move to placate Russia, a country that so far hasn’t given anything in return.

The AFP reports that Russia may not be elated about the decision after all. “The statements that are constantly being voiced raise more questions than answers,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. “We would like to receive full clarification.”

Don’t we all?

The two countries are discussing the new plan. There’s talk the Ukraine might be in the running to receive missile defense shields. The bottom-line is that Russia doesn’t want the U.S. to deploy any missiles in or near Europe. Will Obama go that far to appease Russia, while getting nothing in return? The former Soviet Union has refused to issue tougher sanctions against Iran.

The AP reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Russia to discuss how the two countries will deal with Iran. Since discovery of a second nuclear site in Iran, the U.S. is pushing for inspection to determine whether the endeavor is peaceful. We hope the president will play hardball with Russia and Iran if the efforts prove not so peaceful.

Clinton’s talking tough, saying that we “will not wait indefinitely” for Iran to decide to open its facility for inspection. It remains to be seen whether Russia will agree to harsher sanctions if Iran fails to comply. No doubt the second site has made Israel even more nervous, and our ally is prepared to defend itself.

 
The U.S. and Russia will meet in Geneva in November to discuss the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expires next year. The two countries will continue to discuss whether to renew their arms-reducing agreement. Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, implied that discussions were of a high priority in light of U.S. plans to install missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. (KyivPost)

Speaking of missile defense bases, Russia “expects” to be allowed access to parts of those bases. “A non-permanent presence, meaning limited visits, changes nothing except to reinforce our suspicions,” Prime Minister Lavrov said. “We welcome the idea of a permanent Russian presence and a permanent check, both physical and technical, and this would assuage our fears.” (AFP)

According to a Russian state arms exporter, Russia is not discussing with the Ukraine plans to buy an unfinished missile cruiser for the Russian Navy. In 2005, Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov mentioned Russia as a potential buyer of a missile cruiser. But the exporter’s first deputy general director said the company “has no instructions to buy the cruiser [from Ukraine], although I cannot deny that we were interested in this ship.” Another case of he said/he said? (RIA Novosti)

 
Since its withdrawal from an agreement with Russia for Moscow to rent radar sites in the Ukraine, the latter country is considering integrating its early warning missile system with Europe. Alternatively, it may propose that other countries use its missile defense system.

According to Ria Novosti, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the country’s “withdrawal from the agreement offers the possibility of developing active cooperation with European countries with a view to integrating units of early missile warning and space systems with similar systems.”

Last week, the U.S. and Poland entered into an agreement to install missile inceptors in the Eastern European country. The situation in the region is, to put it mildly, tense.

Iran Successfully Launches Rocket

In other missile defense news, Iran has test-launched a rocket called Safir, which has satellite-carrying capability. The White House reportedly finds the launch “troubling.” Iran may use the technology to develop ballistic missiles.

(Sources: Ria Novosti, AFP, AP and Reuters)

Update (2:04 p.m. ET): Despite Iran’s claim that a satellite-carrying rocket test-launched successfully, the launch failed, according to Reuters.