Moscow’s permanent representative to NATO has informed the organization that Russia needs clear technical documentation that the US missile defense will not pose a security risk for his country.

Moscow’s permanent representative to NATO has informed the organization that Russia needs clear technical documentation that the US missile defense will not pose a security risk for his country, RT news website reported.

Russia said it wants solid guarantees “expressed in a legally-binding manner” that the US missile defense shield will never target Russian territory, Aleksandr Grushko said on Friday, stressing that the document should not be written in the “language of political declarations,” but in clear military-technical fashion.

Moscow needs an assurance that the system is specifically designed to counter potential missile threats outside the Euro-Atlantic area without undermining the strategic balance, that is, intercept Russian strategic nuclear weapons, he added.

The technical data provided to Russia should include geographical location of interceptors, radars, the speed of warheads and many other elements that are absolutely clear to the military, Grushko noted.

The Russian envoy to NATO admitted that the debate over the US missile defense shield is “practically deadlocked,” and the negotiation process within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) has come to a standstill.

Neverthless, Grushko said there still remains a “window of opportunity” and a crisis may be avoided if the necessary amount of “political will is demonstrated.”

The envoy also mentioned recent computer exercises involving “theater missile defense operations,” which took place in Germany this year that “proved the advantage of a joint missile defense system between Russia and NATO.”