BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/12/2007

Belarus will "play role" over U.S. missile shield

Reuters

Belarus told its ally Russia on Friday it was ready to "play its role" over Washington's planned missile defence shield in eastern Europe, but did not specify what that would involve.

Both Russia and ex-Soviet Belarus have expressed opposition to the U.S. shield plan and a Russian general has suggested retaliating by deploying missiles on Belarussian soil.

"Belarus is ready to play its role in the issues of the planned deployment in Europe of U.S. missile defence systems," Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during talks in Minsk.

The United States is planning to site interceptor missiles and a radar station in Poland and the Czech Republic. It says the shield is needed to protect Europe from possible rocket attacks by "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Moscow says the shield threatens its security. A senior Russian general said last month Moscow could station tactical missiles in Belarus, which shares a border with Poland, in response to the U.S. plan. (Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Alison Williams)

Keywords: RUSSIA BELARUS/SHIELD

Source:

http://www.finance.cz/zpravy/finance/141929-belarus-will-play-role-over-u-s-missile-shield/