Russia condemns US defence deal with Czech Republic

RUSSIA:RUSSIA WILL consider how to retaliate over a planned US missile shield but wants to continue talks on the issue with Washington, President Dmitry Medvedev said yesterday.

Washington and Prague signed a deal on Tuesday to place a tracking radar in the Czech Republic as part of a system the United States says is needed to protect against any missile attack from countries such as Iran. Russia considers the missile shield plans a direct threat to its security.

"We are extremely upset by this situation," Mr Medvedev said at the G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan.

"We will not be hysterical about this but we will think of retaliatory steps," he said, but did not specify what those steps might be.

Meanwhile, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice traded accusations with Russia yesterday as she arrived in Georgia, where tension continued to rise in two breakaway regions controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.

She flew to the strategically important Caucasus state after signing the deal with the Czech Republic.

Hours before Dr Rice arrived in Georgia, officials said Russian fighter jets had illegally entered Georgian air space over the separatist province of South Ossetia, and claimed three policemen had been injured in fighting near Abkhazia, another breakaway region where a spate of bombings has killed several people.

Georgia wants to bring both areas back under central control, but they are pursuing independence and closer ties with Russia, which gives them financial and diplomatic support and has peacekeepers deployed on their territory.

Georgia accuses the Kremlin of trying to undermine its bid to join the EU and Nato by destabilising Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Moscow says the government in Tbilisi is preparing a military attack on regions which, it claims, have as much right to self- determination as Kosovo, whose independence Russia staunchly opposes.

"There have been a number of moves recently by the Russian Federation that, in fact, have not been helpful," Dr Rice said yesterday, adding that "the United States considers Georgia to be a good friend".

A senior US state department official travelling with Dr Rice told news agencies that Russia had "greatly escalated its political and military pressure on Georgia" and needed to "realise the empire is gone. Russia needs to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbour."

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, warned that Russian meddling in Georgia could trigger "a renewed cycle of fighting that would be horrific".