Brussels, July 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Until NATO and Russia find common approaches to the issue of creating a European missile defense system, no one can say exactly what will be constructed, but Kyiv hopes no negative consequences will result, the head of Ukraine's Mission to NATO, Ambassador Ihor Dolhov, has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
"NATO has decided to create a European missile defense system, and this system will be created. Russia was invited to take part in the creation of the system. According to the commentary of NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, it [the system] is unlikely to be common [for Russia and NATO]. The Russian side sees this another way – Until they find joint approaches, which are necessary, we cannot say exactly what will be created," Dolhov said in his commentary on the situation.
When asked whether a new cold war could be expected if the alliance and Moscow do not find a common approach, the head of the mission said "this question should be addressed to Moscow and NATO."
"Unfortunately, there has been talk of this. Both the Europeans and Ukrainians could be alarmed by such state of affairs, as any development of events that resulted in the creation of new armament systems would be undesirable," he said.
Dolhov added that new systems require significant investments, but considering the fact that Europe has been facing economic crisis in recent years, such a development of events is "undesirable."
"Considering the common ideology and modern understanding of world events, we would like to avoid going back to a cold war. Today there are many problems that require joint approaches from all countries and organizations, starting from the United Nations. We have to think how to protect the environment, how to feed the growing population of the planet, and how to prevent climate change. This is an issue of the survival of the [world] population. If we don’t face it today, then in ten years this will have already become an extremely difficult problem. We should think about this today, because [tomorrow] it will be too late," Dolhov said.
