February 20, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 2, 1428

MOSCOW, Feb 19: A Russian general threatened on Monday a tough response if the United States goes ahead with a plan to site a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic take such a decision, the strategic missile force will be able to aim at these installations,” said the force’s head, General Nikolai Solovtsov.

Russia, he said, could easily restart production of medium-range missiles if the decision were taken to withdraw from a Cold War-era treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed by Moscow and Washington in 1987.

“If the political decision is taken to withdraw from this treaty the strategic missile force will be ready to fulfil this task,” Solovtsov said at a news conference.

While Russia had destroyed all its medium-range missiles under the treaty, “all the technical documentation remains and restarting their production will not be difficult,” he said.

The United States has said it wants to begin formal talks soon on deploying a missile defence system comprising missiles to be sited in Poland and a radar station to be sited in the Czech Republic.

Washington says the aim would be to intercept potential attacks from Iran and North Korea.

But Moscow does not accept this, saying that the system, close to Russia’s western borders, would threaten Russia.

The INF was recently described as a “relic” of the Cold War by Sergei Ivanov, formerly Russia’s defence minister and now a first deputy prime minister.

On Monday Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said his country and Poland were “likely to give a positive answer” to Washington’s request.—AFP