The US formally told Russia on Thursday that it would go ahead with plans to build missile defence facilities in central Europe, despite an offer from Moscow to share data from a radar site in Azerbaijan.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, welcomed the Russian offer, made by President Vladimir Putin this month, and aimed in part at stopping the construction of a high technology US radar in the Czech Republic. But he said the US plan would go ahead anyway. His statement came at a meeting with Anatoly Serdyukov, his new Russian counterpart, at a meeting with Nato defence ministers.
