Washington wants to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the neighboring Czech Republic, purportedly to counter a missile threat from Iran and other "rogue" states. Russia has fiercely opposed the plans threatening to retarget nuclear missiles at the two countries.
"If such a decision is taken, Russia's response will be effective, adequate and many times cheaper than the creation of a third positioning area [by the United States]," Ivanov told an international conference on security in Munich.
Moscow fiercely opposes the U.S. plans, saying the European shield would destroy the strategic balance of forces and threaten Russia's national interests.
Putin proposed last year setting up missile defense information exchange centers in Moscow and Brussels. Russia has also offered the U.S. use of radar stations at Gabala in Azerbaijan, and Armavir in south Russia, as alternatives to the missile shield deployment in Central Europe.
Washington said, though, it could use these radars only as additional components to the European shield.
