Russia views plans for US ABM systems in Czech Republic, Poland.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Text of report by Russian newspaper Vremya Novostey on 22 January

[Article by Valeriy Masterov and Viktor Volodin on Russian reactions to the plans of the United States to deploy missile interceptor bases in the Czech Republic and Poland. Minister of Defence Ivanov and other Russian experts and officials view those plans as a direct threat to Russia's strategic forces of deterrence: "The United States Is Setting to Work on the Deployment of an ABM system near Russia"]

The United States gave a dangerous present to the governments of the Czech Republic and Poland in the first month of the new year. Its Eastern European partners were informed that Washington had made a decision to construct units of an anti-ballistic missile [ABM] system in those countries. On Saturday, Mirek Topolanek, prime minister of the Czech Republic, confirmed that "Washington had asked the government of the Czech Republic to begin negotiations on that".

The government of the Czech Republic is cooperating with the plans of the United States and Prime Minister Topolanek even thinks that …