The ministry spokesman, Jean-Baptiste Matei, said the need for such talks was evident following last week's remarks by the Russian president, who threatened "an appropriate response" if the U.S. goes ahead with its plans to deploy missile shields in Poland and the Czech Republic, although, France believes the system poses no real threat to Russia.
"The American plan, in its current form, does not seem to us like a blow to balanced relations between Russia and the U.S.," Matei said. "And proliferation of ballistic missiles, especially in the Middle East, is a very serious issue indeed."
In an interview with Western media Friday, Putin said the prospective missile shield, which may destroy the balance in U.S.-Russian relations and reignite Cold War tensions between the world's two major nuclear powers, would be treated by Moscow as a potential target for its strategic missiles.
Speaking ahead of the June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in Germany, he said, "If part of the U.S.' strategic nuclear arsenal is deployed in Europe and our military experts find that it poses a threat to Russia, we will have to take appropriate retaliatory steps. We will have new targets in Europe."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier urged for broad discussions of the issue, to involve Russia.
Responding to Putin's remarks Monday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said Europe sought a meaningful relationship with Russia and found Russia's behavior quite unsettling.
"What we want is a constructive relationship, but what the nature of that relationship is as much up to Russia as it is to us."
A NATO spokesman, James Appathurai, described Putin's headline-making remarks as unwelcome, adding that Russia is the only country to contemplate aiming missiles at Europe.
The Russian president is set to meet with his U.S. counterpart, George W. Bush, and the other G8 leaders at Germany's Baltic resort of Heiligendamm at a three-day summit beginning on Wednesday.
Russia tested a new ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and a new cruise missile last week, saying the tests were part of Moscow's response to the U.S. anti-missile plans.
Washington intends to install ten interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic, allegedly to protect itself and its European allies against potential strikes from rogue states such as Iran. But Moscow fears that rather than providing protection from the Islamic republic, suspected by the U.S. of pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program, the missile shield in Central Europe will undermine security on the continent, and may unleash a new arms race.
