Russian President Vladimir Putin's offer to share the use of the Gabala radar station was a surprise for the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated. She said, this offered will not have any influence on US's plans to place air defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. "The United States studies Vladimir Putin's offer, simultaneously we continue preparation works for placing air defense system in Eastern Europe. One does not choose sites for missile defense out of the blue. It's geometry and geography as to how you intercept a missile. We have to see whether Azerbaijan makes any sense in the context of missile defense." Rice underscored, Associated Press reports.

At the G8 summit in Heiligendamm Vladimir Putin proposed the United States to share the use of the Gabala radar station in the north of Azerbaijan, which scans the Indian Ocean, Middle East and most of North Africa.