U.S. military experts have visited the Russian-operated Qabala (Gabala) radar station in Azerbaijan, which Moscow has offered to share with the United States to counter rogue missile threats.

Military experts from Azerbaijan, Russia, and the United States are to meet in Azerbaijan on September 18 to discuss the possibility of Washington using the country's Qabala (Gabala) radar station as part of its planned missile-defense shield.

The Russian and U.S. defense and foreign ministers will discuss the joint use of the Gabala radar Russia leases from Azerbaijan in October, the Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan said Thursday.

Azerbaijani-Russian-U.S. consultations on the joint use of the Gabala radar station that Russia leases from Azerbaijan will be held within a week, a spokesman for Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

Three-way consultations between Russia, Azerbaijan, and the United States on the joint use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan are scheduled for September 15, a senior Russian government official said.

The United States cannot deploy a missile shield in Central Europe and at the same time accept Russia's offer for the use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The joint use of a radar in Azerbaijan, which Russia has proposed to Washington, would not remove the threat of a missile attack from Iran, the U.S. missile defense chief Henry Obering said Friday.

U.S. missile-defense plans for Central Europe and NATO's difficulties in Afghanistan will top the agenda at the alliance's annual meeting of defense ministers, which opens in Brussels on June 14.

Russia's proposal to the United States concerning the joint use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan is a constructive step forward, a spokesman for the White House said.

An Azerbaijani opposition leader says it would serve Baku's interests if the United States and Russia jointly used a radar station in the country.

Consultations on the possible use of the Gabala radar by the U.S. will start after the Russian president's visit to the U.S., the chief of Russia's General Staff said Tuesday.