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By ANNE GEARAN Associated Press July 3, 2008 Page 2 of 2 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday the U.S. plans will "bring risk rather than security." The U.S. maintains that the plan poses no threat to the Kremlin's vast nuclear arsenal. "We keep repeating for the Russians' benefit, as well as anybody else's who is listening, this isn't about Russia," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday. "As a matter of fact ... we would like Russia to cooperate on the issue of missile defense." The Russians, despite their heated rhetoric, seem to have come to accept that they are unlikely to stop the system. They said as much during talks earlier this year with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who have been pushing a series of proposals intended to make the project more palatable for the Russians. Russian officials have suggested, however, that the next U.S. president may find the system more trouble than it is worth. It would cost many billions and faces years of technical challenges. After decades of development, at a cost exceeding $100 billion, the missile defense system now in place in America -- mainly at bases in Alaska and California -- is unproven and unpopular in Congress. It began as a way to stop long-range missiles launched in a doomsday scenario during the Cold War years when the United States and the Soviet Union targeted each other with thousands of nuclear missiles. The system now envisioned is more modest, designed to stop a limited attack by North Korea. Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain is a strong supporter of the Bush administration European shield plan. Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama has expressed skepticism about costs of the proposed project but, if elected, could be bound by agreements the administration is trying to lock up with the two NATO allies. --- Associated Press writer Ryan Lucas in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report. >> Back -- Page 1 2 Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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