By Xinhua
Warsaw : Talks with the US on the installation of an anti-missile system in Poland would continue for many months to come, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Thursday.
“We must show some patience here. This is a project which will stretch over many years, the talks will most probably last for months to come,” Sikorski, who is returning from Brussels after meeting of NATO foreign ministers, was quoted by Polish news agency PAP as saying.
Sikorski added Poland was aware the talks could take a new turn following this year’s presidential elections in the US.
He said the US. Democratic Party had voiced “scepticism” towards the shield project.
Both Senator Clinton and Obama have expressed deep scepticism regarding the Bush administration’s missile defence proposals, Sikorski stressed.
Sikorski noted that the US state department’s Europe and Asia chief Daniel Fried said Wednesday that America hoped to conclude the shield talks with Poland still under the George W. Bush presidency.
Poland wants the US to boost significantly its military assistance for the country in return for allowing interceptor missiles to be based on its territory.
The US is planning to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of its European missile shield.
Russia has objected to the plan, saying it will threat Russian national security, and has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.