NATO's chief says the alliance now has interim ballistic missile defense capability in Europe, a move that is likely to further heighten tensions with Russia over its objection to a missile defense shield, CNN reports.
"It is the first step towards our long-term goal of providing full coverage and protection for all NATO European populations, territory and forces," Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters Sunday, May 20, the first day of a two-day NATO summit in Chicago.
Among the so-called interim capabilities are missile interceptors loaded on a U.S. ship in the Mediterranean, the first of four anticipated warships with the defense system, Rasmussen said. A defense radar is also operational in Turkey, he said.
NATO has asked Russia to participate in the system but negotiations have been deadlocked over Russia's demand for a legally binding treaty guaranteeing the shield would not be used as a deterrent to Moscow's own systems.
"We have invited Russia to cooperate on missile defense and this invitation still stands," Rasmussen said. "We will continue our dialogue with Russia and I hope that at a certain stage Russia will realize that it is in our common interest to cooperate on missile defense."
The interim system, Rasmussen said, will link together the allies missile defense systems – satellites, ships, radars and interceptors – under NATO control from a U.S. base in Ramstein, Germany.
The full missile defense shield is scheduled to be operational by 2020.
