US 'long way from missile defence decision'

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has called on the US to negotiate with Russia before going forward with a national missile defence system.

Mr Cook met with senior officials of the new US administration in Washington last week, including Secretary of State Colin Powell.

He told reporters that the US government was 'several months' away from reaching any conclusions about going forward with the project.

He said: "They will require some time in order to develop a response to technical terms to what they want to do and also how they take that forward in the international context."

Mr Cook also said he was reassured by the Americans' commitment to consult with Nato allies, European nations and Russia, which says the system will violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.

"That is a crucial part of the task that needs to be addressed - to make sure that should NMD proceed, it proceeds in the context of a successful widening of the arms control regime - not in undermining arms control," he said.

Mr Cook was speaking at a joint news conference in a local high school with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.