Xinhua, 12 Dec 2011.

A bumpy road evidently lies ahead for negotiations between NATO and Russia over the alliance's plan for a missile defense shield in Europe, as their latest talks on Thursday ended in chaos.

RIFTS REMAIN, TALKS CONTINUE

At Thursday's meeting, NATO and U.S. top officials claimed repeatedly that the shield was not directed against Russia, which was not their enemy, but a strategic partner, in a bid to ease tensions following Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's stark warnings.

"Our planned system will not and can not threaten Russia's strategic deterrent," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "It does not affect our strategic balance with Russia. And it's certainly not a cause for military countermeasures."

"It's not directed against Russia. It's not about Russia. It's frankly about Iran and other states or non-state actors who are seeking to develop threatening missile technology," she said.

The verbal promises and goodwill gestures apparently failed to alleviate Moscow's deep concerns that the system poses a potential threat to its nuclear deterrent and national security.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov complained NATO failed to heed Russia's security concerns and time was running out to reach a deal with NATO, as elements of the missile defense system were going to be installed near Russia, in NATO countries Poland, Romania and Turkey.

"They keep repeating not to worry, not to worry, it is not targeted against you," Lavrov said. "If we are to be treated as a potential strategic partner, we'd like people to have respect for our intellectual abilities."

"Apart from general remarks about trust and not targeting systems against each other, we need legally-binding arrangements, because good intentions come and pass, while military capability is what stays," he said.

However, the idea of a legal guarantee in writing that Russia will not be targeted was immediately rejected by NATO and U.S. officials, again.

"We will continue to press forward with missile defense...No allies within NATO is going to give any other country outside the alliance veto over whether NATO protect itself by building a missile defense system against the threats that we perceive are the most salient," Clinton said.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted that no new treaty was needed as NATO and Russia had sighed the NATO-Russia Founding Act in 1997, which stipulates that the two should refrain from the threat or use of force against each other.

Despite the disagreement, Rasmussen said NATO still hoped to reach a pact with Russia by the time of a NATO summit in Chicago next May, when the system is expected to acquire an interim operational capability.

"We do not agree yet," Rasmussen told reporters. "We all agree it is important to keep on trying to keep on talking to keep on listening to each other's concerns... If we can agree on this issue it will take our relationship to the next level.

FUTURE ELUSIVE

Last month, Medvedev warned that Russia would deploy its striking Iskander missiles in the enclave of Kaliningrad, which borders Lithuania and Poland, aimed at NATO missile interceptor batteries, if Russia and NATO fail to reach a deal on the missile defense.

Rasmussen said Medvedev's threats "remind us of the confrontation of a bygone era" and suggested "a fundamental misunderstanding" of the scale and purpose of the project.

Analysts say talks on the missile defense between NATO and Russia will go nowhere if the two can't build up mutual trust and are willing to compromise, which would be a hard job as the two remain at odds over issues ranging from Georgia to Syria.

In addition, the argument over missile defense could affect wider cooperation between NATO and Russia.

Russian's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin suggested Moscow may not let NATO use its territory to supply troops in Afghanistan.

"Mr Lavrov said that for us, cooperation is a complex of all the projects," Rogozin said. "You can't say to us: 'No on the anti-missile shield, but yes for the other projects."

NATO began shipping its supplies to Afghanistan through Russia in 2009 and the route has become vital since Pakistan barred ground resupply via its territory in protest of a Nov. 26 U.S. air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Moscow also warned it could opt out of the New START nuclear arms control deal with the U.S. if NATO missile defense project goes ahead without meeting Russia's demand..

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