MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry called media reports that the United States could have changed its anti-missile plans for Central Europe in exchange for a certain deal with Russia "guesswork."
U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday the U.S. will adjust its anti-missile plans because the Iran threat is perceived in a different way.
The Bush administration sought to deploy a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of an anti-missile system, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, to defend against potential strikes from Iran. Russia has opposed to the plans viewing them as a threat to the strategic balance of forces in Europe.
Russian ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists that after Russia established contacts with the new U.S. administration, certain media carried reports that "we are kind of agreeing on a certain missile defense deal."
"I can say this does not correspond to our policy, our approach to resolving any problems, in relations with any countries, however complicated and sensitive. That's why all this is guesswork," he said.
Col. Gen. Leonid Ivashov, the president of the Russian Academy of Geopolitical Problems, said the U.S. could use military satellites and aircraft carrying laser weapons instead of the radar and interceptor missile base.
He said the U.S. decision to cancel the previous plans was "a political maneuver."
