Washington informs Moscow of U.S. military bases redisposition

The redisposition of American military bases was in discussion at the meeting of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov and the United States Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman.

The redisposition decision has already been taken but specific timeframes and directions of move are still open, Grossman said to journalists after the consultations.

Relative consultations continue and the United States is now discussing redisposition details with its partners, Grossman said.

Asked whether the American bases will move to the post-Soviet space, Grossman said that such plans were not in discussion during the consultations. We are explaining the concept and do not talk specific territories, he said.

Earlier, official spokesman for the American Department of State Richard Boucher reported that the Bush administration had sent Grossman and defence undersecretary for political affairs Douglas Fight to countries in Europe and Asia for consultations.

Last week Fight confirmed that the United States is actually seeking to give its armed forces access to any part of the world in case of need. In the times of the cold war we focused on concrete regions and now are faced with global threats, which requires global strategies and actions, he said.

All decisions to be eventually taken by the /American/ president will depend on what we hear during the consultations, said Fight.