* Russia says interception system threatens stability
* France says its concerns have been resolved
(Updates with formal decision, Stoltenberg quote)
By Robin Emmott and Yeganeh Torbati
WARSAW, July 8 (Reuters) - NATO took command of a U.S.-built
missile shield in Europe on Friday after France won assurances
that the multi-billion-dollar system would not be under
Washington's direct control.
The missile shield, billed as a defence against any strike
by a "rogue state" against European cities, is one of the most
sensitive aspects of U.S. military support for Europe. Russia
says the system is in fact intended by Washington to blunt its
nuclear arsenal, which the U.S. denies.
"Today we have decided to declare initial operational
capability of the NATO ballistic missile defence system," NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference.
"This means that the U.S. ships based in Spain, the radar in
Turkey and the interceptor site in Romania are now able to work
together under NATO command and control," he said, adding that
the umbrella was "entirely defensive" and "represents no threat
to Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent".
Russia is incensed at the show of force by the United
States, its Cold War rival in ex-communist-ruled eastern Europe.
Washington hopes handing over control to the multinational
NATO alliance can calm Russian fears. European NATO members
states are seen as having nothing to gain by provoking Russia,
their major energy supplier.
European nations will be responsible for some funding and
adding assets to the shield over time.
The system comes as NATO prepares a new deterrent in Poland
and the Baltics following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.
In response, Russia is reinforcing its western and
southern flanks with three new divisions.
France, which is leading diplomatic efforts with Russia and
Germany to bring peace to eastern Ukraine, needed assurances
that control of the shield was genuinely being transferred to
NATO, not kept under the command of U.S. generals.
SECONDS TO DECIDE
"The key is political control because of the consequences of
any interception," Gen. Denis Mercier, the Frenchman who heads
NATO's command, told Reuters. "The leaders have found a good
compromise."
Military commanders will have only seconds to decide whether
to use the shield to try to shoot down a ballistic missile.
Officials say NATO will follow rules set down by alliance
ambassadors in Brussels.
France was believed to be reluctant to allow U.S. generals
too much authority to act in such a missile crisis, fearing that
would escalate tensions, although its concerns were never
enunciated publicly in detail.
Mercier said the decision to hold another meeting of the
NATO-Russia Council, a forum bringing together NATO envoys and
Russia at NATO headquarters in Brussels, allowed the alliance to
better explain its position to the Kremlin.
"The second thing is dialogue with Russia, to say clearly
that this shield is against the proliferation of missile
threats, not against one country and especially not against the
nuclear capabilities of Russia," Mercier said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doubts NATO's
stated aim of protecting the alliance against Iranian rockets,
following last year's historic nuclear deal with Tehran and
world powers, which Russia helped to negotiate.
The United States switched on the $800 million missile
shield base in Romania in May and will break ground on a final
site in Poland due to be ready by late 2018, completing the
defence line first proposed almost a decade ago. When fully
operational, the defensive umbrella will stretch from Greenland
to the Azores.
(Editing by Andrew Roche)
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