"The
fact that this was signed in a period of very difficult crisis in the
relations between Russia and the United States over the situation in
Georgia shows that, of course, the missile defence system will be
deployed not against Iran but against the strategic potential of
Russia," Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's Nato envoy, said.
General
Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of Russia's general staff, warned that
Poland was making itself a target for Russia's military "100 per cent"
by hosting the defence system.
"It becomes a target for attack. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority," Nogovitsyn said.
Poland agreed on Thursday to host elements of the US global
anti-missile system after Washington agreed to boost Poland's own air
defences.
Washington says the missile system is aimed at protecting the US and
its allies from long-range missiles that could be fired by what it
terms "rogue states", including Iran.
Moscow has long opposed the system, other parts of which are due to be stationed in the Czech Republic.
Georgia crisis
Moscow and Washington have been trading barbs over Georgia, a key US
ally in the region, after Russian troops routed Georgian forces as
they tried to take back control of South Ossetia, a Georgian separatist
region backed by Moscow.
Russian units then went into several towns in Georgian territory,
provoking US officials to invoke memories of the Soviet Union's
occupation of Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
Rogozin criticised the US for failing to support Russia in the Georgia crisis and said relations could be harmed.
He said: "I consider that the United States is not acting in a cautious manner in this situation.
 |
Russian troops routed Georgian forces
in South Ossetia [Reuters] |
"Instead of getting full moral and political support in the struggle
against real aggression and ethnic cleansing, we have heard a mass of
unpleasant words and threats. That will, of course, not strengthen our
relations."
Some Polish analysts have argued that it was images of the conflict
in Georgia that push Warsaw to agree to the shield deal after months of
talks.
They also said it risked putting more pressure on ties with Russia
just months after Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, vowed to
improve his country's historically strained relations with its powerful
neighbour.
Kazimierz Kik, a sociology professor at Poland's Swietokrzyska
Academy, said: "It can now be expected that this will be the beginning
of the end of Polish-Russian talks. This agreement can be seen as a
purely anti-Russian agreement.
It's making Poland part of the US defence system and, in my view,
pushes Poland along a well-worn road of mistakes - looking for allies
afar and enemies nearby."
(link to source)
