“But we see a threat to Russia’s security as a result of the American strategic system drawing closer to our borders.” Writing in the daily Gazeta Wyborcza on Thursday after the meeting, Lavrov stressed that “other than (countering) Russia’s strategic arsenal, for some considerable time the system will not have a goal. “A simple military analysis proves that a US base in Europe for global anti-missile defence has no other, and for many years will have no other, target but Russian missiles “All objective experts understand that Iran’s missiles pose no threat to Europe and even less to the United States.” He added that Poland had naively been drawn into a dangerous game “perhaps not fully understanding the ramifications of its decision.”
During his meeting with Sikorski, Lavrov brushed aside a question about an earlier comment from Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of staff of Russia’s armed forces, who said on Tuesday that by deploying the missile defence system Poland “is exposing itself to a strike – 100 percent.” “The Russian general staff is not bothered by Poland,” Lavrov said. “It’s bothered by the US strategic system.”
Sikorski, meanwhile, attempted to ease Moscow’s concerns: “Poland will buildconfidence and will proceed in a predictable and transparent way. We hope that Russia’s fears concerning the deal will fade with time,” he said adding “In talks with me, Senator Obama made the realisation of our (missile shield) agreement conditional on whether he will be certain that the system is not aimed against Russia. “What senator McCain has told me about the purpose of the (missile shield) system has nothing to do with Russia. “So we hope that Russian fears over this agreement, will dissipate with time,” Sikorski said.
