Germany wary about US Star Wars

Bill Clinton and Gerhard Schroeder: "very frank" talks

The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, has told US President Bill Clinton that he is worried about US plans for a new anti-ballistic missile defence system.

Mr Schroeder said Mr Clinton presented his views on the missile programme "in a very frank way" during talks in Berlin on Thursday.

"I have stated my concerns," Mr Schroeder told a news conference. "We have to be very careful that such a project does not retrigger a renewed arms race."

Russia has voiced alarm about the US missile programme, dubbed the new Star Wars.

Germany and Russia fear the US could trigger a new arms race

The missile programme is expected to be a key topic of discussion when Mr Clinton meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the weekend.

Speaking in the Portuguese capital Lisbon on Wednesday, Mr Clinton offered to share the missile technology with Europe, or - as he put it - "among civilised nations".

Russia fears the US missile programme could destabilise existing nuclear disarmament accords, especially the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty.

Mr Schroeder said he and Mr Clinton agreed that their two countries "have a great interest in a stable partnership with Russia.

"Both of us want to support Russia's political and economic stabilisation and so make President Putin's job easier."

US-German relations

Earlier Mr Clinton hinted that the US might be willing to share missile defence technology with its former Cold War foe.

"We've done a lot of information sharing already with the Russians. We have offered to do more and we would continue to," he said.

Mr Clinton thanked Mr Schroeder for his contribution to European unity, and stressed the importance of the German-US relationship in the last 50 years.

"I think it may well be more important for the next 50," Mr Clinton said.

Bill Clinton also met German President Johannes Rau (left)

The talks lasted much longer than planned after Mr Clinton flew in from Lisbon, where he earlier held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The discussions in Berlin also covered US-German child custody battles.

On Friday, Mr Clinton will receive the prestigious Charlemagne Prize for services to European integration and world peace.

Sir Winston Churchill, the UK's Second World War leader, Konrad Adenauer, the first post-war German Chancellor, and Tony Blair, the current UK Prime Minister, were previous recipients of the award.

Mr Clinton will also attend a conference of 14 world leaders in Berlin on how to reconcile centre-left values with the global competition of the "New Economy".