US/Polish missile defence deal
Published:Thursday | August 21, 2008 | 10:20 AM
Russia has warned that a US-Polish missile defence deal creates a new arms race in Europe and beyond.
A foreign ministry statement said that Moscow would be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic demarches.
The comments comes following the inking of a deal between the US and Poland to locate 10 US interceptor rockets in Poland.
The US said the system will protect the US and Europe against missiles from rogue states such as Iran.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who signed the deal in Warsaw, said Moscow\'s earlier warning that the base on Polish soil could become a target for a nuclear attack bordered on the bizarre.
Last month, the US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic to base tracking radars there as part of the defence system.
Washington wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.
The Russian foreign ministry said the planned missile shield is aimed at weakening Moscow, describing it as part of US efforts to change the strategic balance of power in its favour.