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US and Poland sign defence deal US and Poland sign defence deal
(40 minutes later)
The US and Poland have signed a preliminary deal on plans for the controversial US defence shield. Poland has signed a preliminary deal with the US on plans to host part of the controversial US defence shield.
The plan is for the US to base 10 missile interceptors in Poland in exchange for help strengthening Polish air defences. The proposal is for the US to base 10 missile interceptors in Poland in exchange for help strengthening Polish air defences.
The scheme is highly controversial and has been opposed by Russia. The US says the system will protect itself and Europe against long range missile attacks by "rogue states".
Poland is reported to have demanded security help as part of the deal after Moscow threatened to target its missiles at any eventual bases. Correspondents say the deal is expected to heighten tension between the US and Russia, which has condemned the plans.
The US signed a deal with the Czech Republic in July to base tracking radars there as part of the missile defence system. Moscow has said the project would upset the military balance in Europe and warned it would have no choice but to point its own missiles at the installations.
Washington says it needs the system to protect itself and Europe from missile attack by what it calls rogue states, such as Iran. The US wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012. Relations between Washington and Moscow are currently strained over Russia's involvement in the conflict in Georgia.
Russia has expressed concern about the system in the past, with one official saying the deal "complicates" global security. The BBC's Adam Easton, in Warsaw, says the agreement is bound to anger the Russians, who vehemently oppose the system.
After Russia's involvement in Georgia, Polish officials said, Washington has come round to their way of thinking.
Unlike the US, Poland sees Russia as a bigger threat to its security than so-called "rogue states" such as Iran, our correspondent adds.
Modernisation
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the agreement on national television shortly before it was signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and US chief negotiator John Rood.
Mr Tusk said Washington had agreed to meet Warsaw's main demands in exchange for hosting the 10 interceptor missiles in a former military base near Poland's Baltic Sea coast.
In return, the US has agreed to help modernise the Polish armed forces and locate Patriot missiles and a garrison of US servicemen in Poland to beef up its air defences, Mr Tusk said.
Poland is reported to have demanded the extra security help as part of the deal after Moscow threatened to target its missiles at any eventual bases.
The US signed an agreement with the Czech Republic in July to base tracking radars there as part of the missile defence system.
The US wants the sites to be in operation by about 2012.