US, Poland agree to missile defence deal

“We have crossed the Rubicon,” the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, referring to US consent to Poland’s demands after more than 18 months of often terse talks.

Tusk said the US had agreed to help augment Poland’s defences with Patriot missiles in exchange for placing 10 missile defence interceptors in the Eastern European country. He said the deal also includes a “mutual commitment” between the two nations to come to each other’s assistance “in case of trouble”. The clause on mutual assistance appeared to be a direct and potent reference to Russia, which has threatened to aim missiles toward Poland — a former Soviet satellite — if it agreed to host the US site.

Washington says the system, which does not yet work, is needed to protect the US and Europe from possible attacks from so-called rogue states, including Iran.

“This decision clearly demonstrates everything we have said recently,” Medvedev said when asked about the agreement at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“The deployment of new anti-missile forces in Europe has as its aim the Russian Federation,” Medvedev said. “The moment has been chosen well and therefore any fairy tales about deterring other states, fairy tales that with the help of this system, we will deter some sort of rogue states no longer work,” he added.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hit back saying Washington had tried to work with Moscow to prove that the shield was not directed against Russia.

In Washington, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino also said the timing was not meant to further antagonise Russia. “We believe that missile defence is a substantial contribution to NATO’s collective security,” she said.

In initial reaction from Russia, the parliamentary foreign affairs committee chairman Konstantin Kosachev was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying the agreement will spark “a real rise in tensions in Russian-American relations”. He also said the plan targets Russia — a claim strongly denied by Washington.