'No-targeting' pact key to missile defense deal with NATO - Lavrov

MOSCOW, March 2 (RIA Novosti)

A formal agreement guaranteeing that NATO and Russian missile defense systems are not directed against each other is the key to cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. "It is not intentions but capabilities that count," he said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio. "This is not the first time we are being told, 'This is not directed against you,' and then end up with problems on our hands," he said. Moscow would like to have legal guarantees before going ahead with a joint missile-defense system, Lavrov said. "Needless to say, for our part, we are ready to provide such guarantees," Lavrov said.