Russian missile plans prompt US, NATO criticisms
Published: Wednesday, November 05, 2008
19:00GMT—2:00PM/EST
RUSSIA – MISSILE SYSTEM – REACTIONS
Washington, 5 November (IranVNC)—Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev today said that he would deploy new, short-range missiles along the Baltic Sea near Poland and Lithuania.
The move, aimed at counteracting a planned US missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, has drawn criticisms from the U.S., NATO, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Poland.
“To neutralize – if necessary – the anti-missile system, an Iskander missile system will be deployed in the Kaliningrad region,” Reuters quoted Medvedev as saying in his first state-of-the nation address to the Federal Assembly.
Kaliningrad Region, a territory cut off from the rest of Russia, hosts a large Russian military base.
Moscow may also use Russia’s Navy for the purpose of “neutralizing” the anti-missile system, he said.
Washington says the plan is needed only to counter a possible attack from hostile states, and today. State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack called the Russian plan “disappointing.”
“This missile defense system is designed to protect against rogue states, for example, Iran, who are working on long-range missile technology,” McCormack told re porters, adding that it was “not directed at them [the Russians].”
NATO spokesperson Robert Pszczel told AFP that the military alliance had “serious worries” about the plans, which he said would not comply with existing arms control arrangements.
“Moreover, the placing of these Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region would not help NATO and Russia to improve their relationship,” he added.
Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic – all NATO members and European Union countries – also today voiced concern over Medvedev’s announcement.
Lithuania’s President Valdas Adamkus said in a statement that Medvedev was “difficult to understand” and the Czech Republic’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zuzana Opletalova, called the plans “unfortunate,” according to AFP.
But in Warsaw, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed the announcement as a political ploy, and told reporters: “I would not attach too much weight to this type of statement,” AFP reports.
The US plan would set up 10 interceptor rockets in Poland and one radar system in the neighboring Czech Republic, completing a defense system already installed in the U.S., Greenland and Britain.
Washington aims to install the missile defense shield scheme by 2012.
Sources: Reuters, Agence France-Presse
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