Russia: U.S. missiles in Poland no help to security
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Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the U.S. deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland does not help security or trust.
"Such military activity does not help to strengthen our mutual security, to develop relations of trust and predictability in this region," said the ministry as quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency.
The ministry further reiterated Russia's confusion that it did not "understand the logic and orientation of cooperation between the U.S. and Poland in this field," adding that all of its relevant questions remained unanswered.
A battery of U.S. Patriot missiles on Monday arrived in Morag, northwestern Poland together with more than 100 soldiers that will to be stationed there. It was just 100 km from the Polish border with the Russian western enclave of Kaliningrad.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said last month that Russia was alarmed by the intentions behind the U.S. missile defense plan in Eastern Europe and its deployment of Patriot missiles in Poland.
Washington and Warsaw signed the Status of Forces Agreement last December, laying out the terms for the deployment of Patriot missiles.
In line with the rotation plan, American soldiers will be exchanged on the quarterly basis. Training of Polish soldiers will last 30 days and will be attended by some 100-150 American soldiers.
A base of Patriot battery is to be deployed first temporarily in Poland and later permanently. In the future, Poland will also host a base of SM-3 missiles, part of the ballistic defense system.
Poland said the choice of site was because of local infrastructure of fine quality that can provide sufficient technical support for the U.S. armed forces, rather than strategic consideration.
