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Washington - Poland's top missile defense negotiator says even with Russia trying to sidetrack the deal, Poland could conclude an agreement with the United States by September to
host US missile interceptors.
Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and his US counterpart on missile defense, Assistant Secretary of State John Rood, said they had made progress in talks on Monday toward an
agreement that would allow the United States to install 10 interceptors.
Waszczykowski said the two sides were moving quickly despite an effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze talks while the United States considers a proposal he made to relocate
both interceptors planned for Poland and a radar installation to be built in the Czech Republic.
Putin, who has vehemently opposed the US plans in Central Europe, surprised President George W Bush at the recent meeting of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries by proposing
the shared use of a Russia-rented early warning radar in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic.
The two leaders are to discuss their differences this weekend in Kennebunkport, Maine, at the oceanfront estate of Bush's father, former President George H W Bush.
Threat from Iran
Waszczykowski said Poland viewed Putin's proposal as a ruse to stall talks between the United States and Poland and the Czech Republic.
''I think it was an intentional effort to block or freeze the discussion,'' he said. ''It was a smart idea by Putin to make things fuzzy.''
Bush has agreed to consider Putin's proposal, but his administration has made clear that it would not slow plans for the project in Poland and the Czech Republic, former Soviet satellites
that are now NATO members.
Moscow has said it does not believe Washington's assurances that the planned facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic are meant to counter a potential threat from Iran, suggesting that
they are intended to weaken Russia's arsenal.
But Waszczykowski suggested that Putin's proposal to rearrange the infrastructure for a shield against Iran was a tacit admission that a threat exists.
''He put himself in a trap, because he can no longer argue that there is no threat,'' Waszczykowski.
Russian fears
Russia officials have said that while they do not believe that Iran will have the capability to reach Europe with ballistic missiles for many years, Putin's proposal would serve to answer
both US fears of Iranian missiles and Russian fears of a US missile defense shield.
Waszczykowski said Poland did not object to US-Russian discussions on the radar in Azerbaijan while plans to install the interceptors in Poland continue. He said that if negotiators reached
a deal by September, it would be possible to begin construction for the interceptors by February.
He added that the radar in Azerbaijan could supplement the system's capabilities.
''It is an outdated radar,'' he said. ''It could serve as a first warning radar but could not trace the full trajectory of a missile.''
Rood, the State Department's chief missile defense negotiator, said in an interview that while the two sides still have to negotiate some legal and logistical issues involving the base where
the missile interceptors would be installed, there were no obvious disagreements preventing a deal.
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