Moscow - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to
meet with his Polish counterpart on Thursday amid high tension over
deploying a US missile shield and renewed threats from Moscow.
Lavrov is scheduled to meet with Polish Foreign Minister Radek
Sikorski to discuss Russia's recent conflict in Georgia and an
upcoming meeting of a Polish-Russian committee on strategic
cooperation.
Lavrov will also meet with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk during
his day-long visit, the Polish Foreign Ministry said.
The visit comes as Polish-Russian tensions rise over Russia's
recent conflict in Georgia and a US missile shield deal.
The commander of Russia's strategic missile forces reiterated
threats on Tuesday that Moscow could re-target rockets at the US
missile defence objects if they are deployed in Eastern Europe.
Poland signed a deal with the US last month to host 10 interceptor
missiles on its soil in exchange for military aid. Moscow opposes the
US missile shield as a threat to its nuclear deterrent, despite
assurances from Washington the system is for protection against 'rogue
states' like Iran.
Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov said on Tuesday that 'I cannot
rule out that ... our ICBMs could in the future target both the
missile defence facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.'
Poland also drew Russia's anger by leading several former eastern
bloc countries in calling for a tough European Union (EU) stance on
Russia's brief but bloody conflict with Georgia.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski emerged as Georgia's strongest
supporter in the conflict over two Georgian breakaway regions.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently recognized the regions
of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent, defying the pro-Georgian
EU and US.
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