Gates tries to win Russia cooperation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to forge a truce in a war of words with Russia this week and get Moscow behind Washington's efforts to address international ballistic missile proliferation.

To win Russia's cooperation, the Pentagon chief offered President Vladimir Putin an unprecedented level of cooperation in missile defense activities and tried to focus the Kremlin's attention on the perceived missile threat to Russia's south -- Iran.

Despite an immediate negative public response from some Russian officials, Gates and other senior Bush administration officials said Russia understood the threat.

"Their judgment and ours may differ about how fast that (Iranian ballistic missile) program is maturing and how quickly they'll be able to range all of Europe and ultimately the United States," said a senior Bush administration official who attended the Moscow meetings with Gates.

"But I was actually struck as (Gates) was by the degree to which all our Russian interlocutors saw Iran as a very serious problem and a threat," the official said.

The United States wants to protect itself and European allies from what Washington thinks is a growing ballistic missile threat in part by building a shield in Central Europe and placing elements of the system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

But the proposal has generated intense anger and opposition by Moscow, which fears the United States might eventually convert the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic for offensive use against Russia.

The dispute has drawn Cold War comparisons by driving relations between Washington and Moscow to a low. Washington accuses Moscow of rolling back on democracy and trying to revive past imperialism while Moscow charges Washington of acting unilaterally and meddling in its domestic affairs.

But Gates, a former CIA director and career Soviet analyst at the U.S. intelligence agency, tried to ease that tension this week by urging Russia to recognize the threat and act as a partner rather than an adversary.

"The days of the Cold War are over and no one should seek a return to them," Gates said after meetings in Moscow on Monday. "We invite Russia to join our defensive endeavor as a partner."

BROADER THREAT

Gates also tried to focus the attention of leaders in Poland and Germany during his tour this week on Iran. But that, according to one defense official, was due to the audience.

Iran is not the only threat, according to Gates and defense officials, who say the missile shield is meant to protect against both states and non-state groups who could acquire long-range strike capabilities over the next 10 to 20 years.

At least 20 countries possess ballistic missiles and more could be developing them, according to senior U.S. officials traveling with Gates.

"We aren't talking about tomorrow or next year but rather thinking about what the world might look like in 10 or 20 years," Gates told reporters in Poland on Tuesday.

"The world changes in dramatic ways and what we are talking about here is indivisible security for the United States and for our NATO allies. We would like to extend that umbrella to Russia and to partner with Russia."

After hours of often back-to-back meetings, and coming off a week of travel in the Middle East, a clearly fatigued Gates appeared unconcerned about Russia's initial reaction to his offer for partnership in missile defense.

"I think that there clearly have to be divisions in Moscow on how to respond frankly," he said on Wednesday in his last comments before returning to Washington. "We've made some very far-reaching proposals and I have no doubt that there is some debate in Moscow about how to respond under the circumstances."