NATO calls for joint work with Moscow, Washington on missile defence

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BRUSSELS, Sept 19 (Reuters): NATO proposed a new era of cooperation with Russia Friday, calling for joint work with Moscow and Washington on missile defence after the United States scrapped a planned anti-missile system.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described as "correct and brave" President Barack Obama's decision to drop the missile shield intended for Europe by predecessor George W Bush. Russia's NATO envoy welcomed the NATO cooperation proposals.
Some military experts saw the moves as a sign of weakness by Obama that Moscow hardliners would want to exploit further. Putin called in a speech Friday for Obama to follow up with concessions on trade and technology transfer.
Others described abandonment of the system as a bold gesture that could improve frosty relations between the West and Russia but also said many obstacles remained to better ties between the former Cold War foes.
"I do believe that it is possible for NATO and Russia to make a new beginning and to enjoy a far more productive relationship in the future," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in his first big policy speech since taking office in August.
"We should explore the potential for linking the US, NATO and Russian missile defense systems at an appropriate time."
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the Armavir radar in southern Russia "actually would fill a gap in coverage."
Rasmussen called for more cooperation on ending the conflict in Afghanistan, fighting piracy at sea and ensuring Iran does not develop nuclear arms. He also proposed a joint review of global security threats.
He indicated Russia would not go ahead with plans to deploy medium-range missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the United States abandoned its plans to place ground-based interceptors in Poland and use a radar site in the Czech Republic.
NATO's ties with Russia have improved since the Cold War ended but deteriorated again following the Defense alliance's eastward expansion to take in former Communist-ruled countries in eastern Europe and Moscow's war in Georgia last year.
Contentious issues include NATO's offer of eventual membership for Georgia and fellow former Soviet republic Ukraine, which was opposed at a NATO summit last year by France and Germany, and is deeply resented by Russia.
NATO is troubled by Russia's recognition of the rebellious South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions in Georgia as independent states, and there is lingering mutual mistrust.
Meanwhile, almost half Poland's population supports a US decision to scrap a planned anti-missile system partly based on their soil, a survey published Saturday showed.
The survey published in the daily Rzeczpospolita by polling firm GFK showed 48 per cent of Poles believed the decision was good for Poland, while 31 per cent had the opposite view.
A total of 58 per cent said the move would have no impact on Poland's security.
Political analysts say the economy is a far bigger priority than missile defence for Polish and Czech voters.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's center-right, pro-EU government never embraced missile defence as keenly as its more conservative predecessor led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski which it ousted in 2007.
When asked how they interpreted Obama's decision, 40 per cent of Poles in the survey said it was a concession to Russia.
Russia had fiercely opposed plans to deploy the shield in a region it had dominated until the fall of communism in 1989.