Rome – Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that U.S.plans to build a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe would force Moscow to target its weapons against Europe.
The threat, in an interview published Sunday in Italy’s Corriere della Sera and other foreign media, marked one of Putin’s most strident statements to date against the U.S. plans and came just days before he is to join President Bush and other leaders at a Group of Eight summit in Germany.
Putin was asked whether the proposed missile-defense shield would compel Moscow to direct its own missiles at locations and U.S. military sites in Europe, as during the Cold War.
“If the American nuclear potential grows in European territory, we have to give ourselves new targets in Europe,” Putin said, according to Corriere. “It is up to our military to define these targets, in addition to defining the choice between ballistic and cruise missiles.”
Russia has not overtly targeted Europe since agreeing after the fall of the Soviet Union not to direct missiles against specific countries, according to Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst based in Moscow. He added however, that that was a simple technical matter, since a missile can be given a target within minutes.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek accused Russia on Sunday of misleading the public about the planned missile-defense bases in the Czech Republic and Poland to hide Russia’s internal problems.
“Russia needs an outside enemy to hide problems at home,” Topolanek said.
The U.S. made a formal request in January to place a radar base in a military area southwest of Prague, Czech Republic, and 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland as part of plans for a missile- defense shield that Washington says would protect against a potential threat from Iran.
The U.S. plans have brought a strong reaction from Russia, which accuses the United States of threatening Russian territory and of trying to start a new arms race.
