This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7496399.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Russia warns over US-Czech shield | Russia warns over US-Czech shield |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Russia's foreign ministry has said it will be forced to react with military means if a US-Czech agreement over a missile defence shield is ratified. | Russia's foreign ministry has said it will be forced to react with military means if a US-Czech agreement over a missile defence shield is ratified. |
| The statement comes hours after the US signed an initial deal to base part of Washington's controversial missile defence system in the Czech Republic. | The statement comes hours after the US signed an initial deal to base part of Washington's controversial missile defence system in the Czech Republic. |
| It said Russia would respond "not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods" if the system was deployed. | It said Russia would respond "not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods" if the system was deployed. |
| Moscow says siting the system near its borders could weaken its own defence. | Moscow says siting the system near its borders could weaken its own defence. |
| It has previously threatened to aim its own missiles at any eventual base in Poland or the Czech Republic. | |
| Tracking system | |
| The deal signed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Prague on Tuesday allows a tracking radar base to be set up on Czech territory. | |
| The plans remain unpopular in the Czech Republic and the US has also failed to reach agreement with Poland on placing other parts of the system there. | |
| The missile defence system would include the tracking radar system in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland. The US wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012. | |
| A second deal covering the status of US soldiers at the Czech base has not been agreed. | |
| Czech opposition parties have strongly criticised the plans and are calling for a national referendum. | |
| The plans would have to be approved by the Czech parliament, where the government would need the votes of the opposition parties to get them through. | |
| Jan Majicek, of the No Bases Initiative, said that more than 100,000 people had signed a petition against the Czech base. |