U.S. and Lithuania in shield talks: Polish official

By Gabriela Baczynska

WARSAW (Reuters) - The United States is talking with Lithuania about possibly installing part of a planned missile shield there if negotiations with Poland fail, Poland's negotiator said on Tuesday, but Washington said only "general conversations" with the Lithuanians had taken place.

Poland has set tough conditions for agreeing to base 10 U.S. interceptor rockets on its soil. It wants Washington to spend billions of dollars to upgrade Polish air defenses after Russia said it would point missiles at Poland in case of deployment.

The United States has said it would seek another site for its European missile defense project if the talks with Poland fail. Diplomats say Washington has become increasingly exasperated by Warsaw's tough negotiating stance.

"I can confirm the United States is in talks with Lithuania (over the missile shield). Lithuania's defense minister proposed it himself in May and the Polish side knows it," Polish chief negotiator Witold Waszczykowski told Reuters.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas, contacted by Reuters, declined to comment.

In Washington, officials said they had not begun formal negotiations with Vilnius on the missile shield. "We have had general conversations with the government of Lithuania about missile defense issues," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.

"But certainly we expect and hope that we will be able to conclude an agreement with Poland in the near future, and I don't think that there is at this point any discussions about alternate sites," he said.

Chief U.S. missile shield negotiator John Rood was in Lithuania in May, but "he largely briefed them on the status of the discussions in Poland," Casey said.

The Pentagon said Lithuania was one of the countries that could host part of the missile shield if negotiations with Poland failed, but also denied negotiations were under way. The Americans hoped they would not need to negotiate with any other country, but facing a November election, time is running out for the Bush administration to secure the shield plan.

"That is why we continue to aggressively pursue talks with the Poles but that is also why we do not close the door on perhaps having to pursue a backup option," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morell said.

A source in Warsaw close to the Polish negotiations said Washington had set no formal deadline for Warsaw, but added that late July would likely be the last chance for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-right government to agree a deal.

LEVERAGE

The Bush administration wants to install the interceptor rockets in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic to shield the United States and its allies from attack by what it calls "rogue states," particularly Iran.

Russia strongly opposes the missile shield plan, saying it poses a direct threat to its own national security and its nuclear deterrent.

U.S. President George W. Bush is keen to finalize a deal before his term in office ends in January -- a fact which some Polish officials believe gives them leverage to press their demands.