Russian minister in Poland, raps U.S. missile shield

By Gareth Jones

WARSAW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister told Poland on Thursday a U.S. missile defence shield Warsaw has agreed to host poses a direct threat to his country's security, but said Moscow remains open to further talks.

Poland has infuriated Moscow, its former communist-era overlord, by agreeing to host 10 interceptor missiles as part of the missile shield project. Washington says the shield is aimed against what it calls "rogue states" like Iran, not Russia.

"We cannot fail to see the risks emerging as a result of U.S. strategic forces coming closer to our borders," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski.

"We are certain this system in Europe can have no other target for a long time to come but Russia's strategic forces."

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday against starting an arms race in Europe by stationing a U.S. missile defence shield near Russia's borders and said there was no basis for a new Cold War.

Putin also warned Poland and the Czech Republic against hosting the U.S. missile shield.

"Our targeting of these countries will happen as soon as these missiles are brought," Putin said. "Please do not instigate an arms race in Europe. It is not needed. What should we do? Sit pretty while they deploy missiles?"

But Lavrov, on his first trip to a European country since last month's Georgia crisis reignited tensions between Russia and the West, balanced his comments with a call for dialogue.

"We don't see Poland itself as a source of threats to the Russian Federation ... We don't agree on everything but we appreciate dialogue," he said.

GUARANTEES URGED

In an interview for the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza published on Thursday, Lavrov urged the United States and its allies to provide guarantees to Moscow that the shield would not be targeted against Russia.

His comments in Poland marked a slight softening of Russia's position after President Dmitry Medvedev recently said Moscow would have to respond militarily to Warsaw's shield decision.

Sikorski stressed the need for confidence-building measures and also reiterated Polish and U.S. arguments that the shield, which will also include a radar installation in the Czech Republic, s no match for Russia's vast nuclear arsenal.

A senior aide to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hailed the change of tone, saying it could bring concrete results.

"Both sides are ready to talk about how to build trust ... This means that both sides are willing to talk also about inspections of each other's military bases," aide Slawomir Novak told reporters in televised remarks.