Vladimir Isachenkov, Moscow
A senior general warned yesterday that Russia could send short-range missiles to Belarus as part of efforts to counter planned US missile defence sites in Europe, Russian news reports said.
Col-Gen Vladimir Zaritsky, the chief of artillery and rocket forces for the Russian Ground Troops, said that "any action meets a counteraction, and this is the case with elements of the US missile defence in Poland and the Czech Republic," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Russia has fiercely opposed US plans for 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic. President Vladimir Putin and other officials have warned that Russia could target the planned US defence sites in Europe with its missiles.
Putin has dismissed US claims the sites were intended to provide protection from a missile threat from Iran and has said they would weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent.
Zaritsky was responding to his Belarusian counterpart, who said Russia could provide Belarus with its new short-range Iskander missiles, which are believed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. AP
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