Talks on US-Poland missile shield could be completed by year-end

Sep 6, 2007, 12:15 GMT

Warsaw - Talks between the United States and Poland on the installation of anti-ballistic missile defence silos on Polish soil could be completed by the end of the year, according to a US State Department official.

'Talks could be completed by the year's end,' Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried told Poland's PAP news agency Thursday.

'There will certainly be a few more rounds of negotiation,' Fried said, pointing to the strong possibility of an early general election in Poland in October as a factor which could delay a final agreement.

Fried, however, stressed there was no official target for the completion of talks on the controversial US plan to install 10 anti- ballistic missiles in Poland as a safeguard against missile attacks by so-called rogue states such as Iran or North Korea.

Russia is vehemently opposed to the plan and regards the US missile shield proposal as a grave threat to its national security on its very doorstep.

Fried, however, termed a Russian proposal to locate early-warning radar stations for the shield in the central Asian republic of Azerbaijan as constructive, stressing the US missile shield is in no way directed against Russia.

The US State Department official also said he did not expect a breakthrough on the issue in talks between US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) forum this week in Sydney, Australia.

Existing US plans call for the radar early warning portion of the missile shield to be based in Poland's southern neighbour, and its EU and NATO partner, the Czech Republic.