Rice seeks to tighten links with Prague

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left on Monday for the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Georgia and perhaps Poland on a trip that illustrates their deepening U.S. ties despite Russia's objections.

The centerpiece of Rice's trip is Tuesday's signing of an accord in Prague to base radar in the Czech Republic as part of a missile shield to protect the United States and its allies from attack by what it calls "rogue" states, including Iran.

Before leaving for Prague on Monday evening, Rice met Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in Washington in the hopes of nailing down an agreement to base 10 interceptors in Poland as part of the missile defense shield.

U.S. officials said that even if a deal were reached in the next few days, they thought it highly unlikely Rice would add a stop in Warsaw this week to sign it.

The subtext of Rice's visit is the desire to further cement links with countries once firmly in the Soviet orbit -- notably with the hardware necessary for a missile defense shield Russia bitterly opposes.

Russian officials have repeatedly criticized Washington's planned European missile defense plans, arguing it could be expanded to undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent.

While Russian officials have threatened to target Poland and the Czech Republic if they go ahead with the missile defense shield, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev struck a conciliatory note at the Group of Eight summit in Japan, saying the United States and Russia agreed on many issues.

"Certainly there are others with respect to European affairs and this missile defense where we have differences," Medvedev said after meeting U.S. President George W. Bush. "We would like to agree on these matters as well."

Former Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia could take military measures if Washington went ahead with the missile defense plan but he also proposed creating a joint European advance warning system and offered the use of Russia's radar in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

THREAT TO RUSSIA?

Andrew Kutchins, a Russia analyst with Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said Moscow had found it difficult to reconcile the views of those who saw the Western moves as a direct threat and those who did not.

"On the one hand they can take the view that NATO is expanding, bases are coming closer to them, missile defense systems are coming closer to them -- they can see this in a threatening way," Kutchins said.

On the other hand, Kutchins added, "The threats are not coming from Europe or the United States."

In another gesture that appears partly directed toward Moscow, Rice plans to visit the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

U.S. officials said she wished to demonstrate Washington's support for Georgia's political and economic reforms and its integration into Western institutions, including NATO.