Poland expects deal on U.S. shield in February

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland expects to clinch a deal with the United States in February to host U.S. missiles as part of a defensive shield in Europe, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday.

The shield, which Washington says would protect the United States and its European allies from so called "rogue" states like Iran, has strained ties between Poland and Russia, which argues the missile system would undermine its national security.

Poland's new centre-right government wants deeper security links with the United States and would like Washington to boost its air defenses with new short- and medium-range systems like the Patriot missile in exchange for Warsaw's cooperation. Details of any such arrangements are still being hammered out.

Sikorski said in a radio interview that he expected a breakthrough during talks between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President George Bush in Washington next month, not at a previous meeting between the Polish foreign minister and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on February 1.

"I think the decision will be made at a higher level, during the Bush-Tusk meeting," he said.

The Bush administration wants to locate 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic under a $3.5 billion defense plan.

Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich told Reuters in an interview before a visit to Washington this month that Poland would not participate in the project unless the United States helped bolster the country's air defenses.

During a visit by Sikorski to Moscow on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Kremlin would not try to pressure Poland about the missile shield, part of joint efforts to mend relations.

(Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Caroline Drees)