Embassy News

Public Affairs Hosts Missile Defense Press Conference

Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Rood at the press conference . (Embassy photo by Norbert Vitéz - full size photo)

On February 21, 2008, the United States and the Russian Federation held the fifth meeting of senior-level missile defense policy experts in Budapest.  This was a second round held in Hungary and it included more delegates than earlier to allow the bilateral discussions to cover a wider range of security and nonproliferation issues such as post-START arrangement and CFE. 

At the conclusion of the bilateral talks the U.S. Embassy organized a press conference for the American delegation headed by the Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Mr. John Rood.  In attendance were thirty representatives of the Hungarian as well as international media.  In his opening statement the Head of the Delegation called the meeting very significant since it brought the two parties closer to eventual cooperation on missile defense and radar cooperation.  He stressed that while the Middle East missile threat is growing, Russia and the U.S. have a real chance now of concluding a strategic partnership on missile defense, including the opportunity to work together on joint regional missile defense architecture.