U.S. expects Polish deal soon on missile defense

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States expects to conclude negotiations with Poland on a missile shield site by the end of President George W. Bush's term in office later this year, officials said on Wednesday.

"I would say the odds were extremely high that they would be successful (by then)," Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried told reporters, asked if he expected negotiations with Warsaw to be wrapped up by the end of Bush's presidency.

Speaking after talks at NATO, he declined to give a more precise timeframe for concluding negotiations over U.S. defense commitments which Poland is seeking in return for its agreement to allow interceptor missiles to be based on its territory.

U.S. Acting Undersecretary of State John Rood said he was hopeful of a deal with Poland "in the near term".

The Bush administration wants the missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a global system it says is meant to protect the United States and allies from long-range ballistic missiles from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Bush said last week that the United States was close to a deal with the Czech Republic on the sitting of the radar component.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

In what appeared to be an indirect reference to such remarks, Fried applauded Warsaw and Prague for pursuing talks on the system despite what he called "appalling comments" from Moscow.

(Reporting by Mark John; Editing by Richard Balmforth)