Special to WorldTribune.com

Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com

NATO took a step forward toward completing a comprehensive ballistic missile shield by announcing that an “interim capability” to destroy incoming missiles was already in operation.

“The United States and our European allies are investing in common security and it is an excellent example of the renewed culture of cooperation” said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the group’s summit in Chicago.

But conspicuously absent from the summit was Russia, whose newly installed hardline President Vladimir Putin refused to attend despite earnest invitations and urgings.

Rasmussen stressed that NATO must have the capability to protect itself from missile threats and that it will not stop building such capability because of Russia’s objection.

The shield “cannot be blocked by Russia,” he said.

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  Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Chicago summit, NATO states announce missile shield already in place, Vladimir Putin