Gates to discuss US missile shield with Polish leaders
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Feb 19, IRNA - US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who is to attend a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Polish city of Krakow, is due to meet with Polish leaders to discuss the planned deployment of the missile shield in Poland, media reports said Thursday.
Gates is to brief the Polish side on the stance of US President Barack Obama on the controversial anti-missile project.
Obama announced earlier his country would only remain committed to the missile shield plan if it is reliable, cost-effective and not detract from other American security priorities.
Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov warned the US administration against proceeding unilaterally to deploy the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Such an American move may "lead to additional tensions in Central Europe," Ivanov told the 45th Munich Security Conference.
Installing the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic is aimed at deterring Russia's nuclear weapons potential, the Russian official said.
He stressed that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had pledged not to base short-range missiles in Kaliningrad, if the US refrains from deploying the anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Ivanov's latest remarks came only hours after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk vowed to go ahead with installing the missile shield.
Poland and the US sealed a deal in August to set up a planned missile defense base on northern Polish territory that has aroused tensions with Poland's arch-foe, Russia.
The agreement includes the deployment of 10 US missile interceptors as well as Patriot air defense missiles in Poland.
Russia has lashed out at the stationing of the US anti-missile system in Poland and the radar track system in the Czech Republic, branding it a threat to its national security.
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