"Another failure of an interceptor missile test carried out by the Pentagon last night yet again shows that the idea of setting up a national anti-ballistic missile system is highly disputable both from military, political and technical points of view," the Interfax news agency cited Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, chief of the Russian Defense Ministry's Main Department for International Cooperation, as saying.

"Russia will always be able to defeat any U.S. ABM system," Ivashov said. "The only question is whether it is worth investing such significant amounts money in this scheme while it could be resolved by political means," the general stressed.

"Both Russian and American professionals in the ABM sphere are perfectly aware that it is impossible to create a system of absolute protection," Ivashov remarked.

The general again noted extremely negative consequences in case the U.S. president should take the decision to deploy a national ABM system. This may lead to the breakdown of the process of nuclear weapons reduction and the destabilization of strategic balance and a nuclear deterrence regime, he said.

In this case, "(U.S. President) Bill Clinton would hand down a not very favorable legacy in the sphere of strategic stability to the next U.S. administration," Ivashov concluded.

(people’s Daily)