The U.S. has rejected a Russian offer to host a jointly run missile shield in Azerbaijan as an alternative to sites in Eastern Europe. Speaking at a NATO meeting in Belgium, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. will continue with plans in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “Yes, I was very explicit in the meeting that we saw the Azeri radar as an additional capability, that we intended to proceed with the radar, the X-band radar, in the Czech Republic.”