WASHINGTON, March 10: US President George Bush promised on Monday to help Poland upgrade its military and vowed the US ally would not face “undue security risks” if it hosts components of a planned US missile shield.

Bush told visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk that US officials would draw up a plan to address Warsaw’s defence needs before leaving office in January 2009, in the face of Russian anger at the proposed anti-missile system.

“Before my watch is over we will have assessed those needs and come up with a modernization plan that’s concrete and tangible,” the president said as they met at the White House.

Bush said he was committed to “ensure that the people of Poland will not be subjected to any undue security risks, that the system is necessary to deal with the realities of the threats.” “Obviously there’s a lot of work to do, because many times a strategy on paper is a little different from the details,” said the president.

Tusk, speaking through an interpreter, said he and Bush had agreed “that the missile defence system and the modernization of the Polish forces, as well as the reinforcement of the global security system, which also influences the Polish security system, that all these issues come in one package.” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that agreement was “not a quid pro quo because, as we would with any ally, we would help them modernize a different part of their defence system.” Since taking office in November, Tusk has insisted that the possible risks of hosting around 10 US missile silos from 2012 must be balanced by extra US security guarantees and a multi-billion-dollar military aid package.

Tusk has stressed he wants a deal that would enable him to say “hand on heart” that Poland would “be safer, not less safe” should the anti-missile shield be installed.

The United States wants to put an anti-missile radar in Czech Republic and missile silos in Poland under the plan which has infuriated Russia, which considers the shield a major security threat.

Opinion polls indicate a majority of Poles oppose hosting US anti-ballistic missiles amid threats by Russia to point its warheads at its neighbour. The United States says the project is not targeted against Russia, insisting it is designed to ward-off potential attacks by so-called “rogue states”, notably Iran.—AFP