WASHINGTON, Aug 17: Pentagon chief Robert Gates dismissed as “empty rhetoric” on Sunday Russian warnings that Moscow would target Poland for a possible military strike because Warsaw agreed to host part of a US missile shield.

“Russia is not going to launch nuclear missiles at anybody,” Defence Secretary Gates said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “The Poles know that. We know it.”

Col-General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian general staff, told Interfax on Friday that Russian military doctrine would allow for a possible nuclear strike, after Warsaw agreed to deploy 10 interceptors at a site in Poland as part of the shield.

This was “strident rhetoric and probably fairly empty rhetoric,” said Gates, a former CIA director.

“I’m not quite sure why this deputy chief of staff felt compelled to make those kinds of threats,” said Gates, an expert on Russia, terming his words were a throwback to the old Soviet Union, when Moscow was Warsaw’s overlord.

Poland is now a member of the Nato alliance.

“We just want those in Russia who seem to be willing to look to the future, people perhaps like President (Dmitry) Medvedev, to perhaps begin to exercise more influence here and get some of these people’s rhetoric under control,” he said.

Poland agreed on Thursday to host the 10 interceptors after Washington agreed to boost Poland’s air defences.

The Czech Republic agreed to host a radar for the shield, although both countries’ parliaments must approve the agreements.

Washington says the shield will be aimed at protecting the United States and its allies from long-range missiles that could be fired by Iran or groups such as Al Qaeda.

The Kremlin has long disagreed, and opposed the planned shield as a threat to Russia. Russia’s nuclear arsenal includes more than 5,000 ballistic warheads.

In a separate interview with CNN, Gates said Washington had agreed to give Moscow physical and technical access to the missile shield installations.

“We have agreed along with our partners in Poland and the Czech Republic to give the Russians access both physical and technical access so they know what’s going on every step of the way,” he said.

“We’ve agreed not to even make the interceptors operational until the Iranians have test-launched a missile that has the range to hit much of western Europe, not to mention Russia.

So this is really an old song that they’re singing and it really just doesn’t play,” he said.

—Reuters