Poland:Poland and the Czech Republic have condemned Russia for warning them that they would be in danger of attack if they agreed to host a US missile defence shield.
The two central European members of Nato and the EU are in talks with Washington over plans to build a long-range radar in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland, ostensibly to shoot down rockets fired from "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea.
Russia says it would be the real target of the facilities, however, and has warned Washington, Warsaw and Prague they risk sparking a new arms race if they build the facilities, which would work in tandem under the control of US forces.
"The firing of an anti-missile rocket from Poland could be seen by Russia's automated system as the launch of a ballistic missile, which could provoke a responsive strike," Russia's most senior general, Yuri Baluyevsky, said on Saturday.
"If we assume that Iran does try to launch a missile against the United States . . . then interceptor missiles from Poland would fly in the direction of Russia," he explained. "Who is going to take responsibility for an automatic triggering of the system if an interceptor missile is launched from Polish territory through Russia to strike down an Iranian missile?"
His warning came just days after Russia withdrew from the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, a key cold war agreement limiting the number of troops and heavy weapons deployed between the Atlantic coast and Russia's Ural mountains.
It also followed a meeting between Russia's president Vladimir Putin and Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, in which the latter said Belarus - which borders Poland - was "ready to play its role" in responding to the deployment of any missile defence system.
"This kind of declaration is unacceptable. No declaration of this kind will influence Polish-American negotiations," Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said of Gen Baluyevsky's warning.
"When I hear the words of a Russian general about an automatic reaction, that recalls the worst of times to me," said Mr Tusk, referring to Poland's time as a Soviet satellite from 1944 to 1989.
The Czech Republic also condemned Moscow's rhetoric. "The language from Russian generals is unacceptable, even unimaginable in the democratic world," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova, adding Prague had "always worked for dialogue" on the issue.
Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski, who plans to discuss missile defence with Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Kislyak, said: "We have not yet reached a conclusion as to whether the anti-missile shield is necessary. Poland has no nuclear potential, but Russia does. We will hear out their arguments, but our final decision will be a sovereign one."
Mr Kislyak met US officials in Budapest last week, but called the talks "disappointing". "We will continue this diplomatic work and we will think about what we need to do to protect Russia's security under any scenario that may develop," he said.