BERLIN, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Washington should have consulted more closely with Russia over its plans to place an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe, Germany's foreign minister said.
"One should have spoken with Russia earlier as the sites where they (the missiles) are to be stationed are edging closer to Russia," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the German business daily Handelsblatt in an interview. "Given the strategic nature of such projects, I call for a prudent approach and intensive dialogue with all partners who are directly or indirectly affected."
Washington claims the system, which foresees ten bunker-protected rockets to be stationed in Poland and a radar unit in the Czech Republic, is to protect the United States and its allies against rockets armed with nuclear warheads fired by the likes of North Korea and Iran.
But Moscow sees the missiles as threats against its territory, and Steinmeier in the interview also dismissed a potential threat posed by Iranian rockets, saying Tehran did not possess the technology to make such an attack.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a speech last week accused the United States of provoking a new arms race with the system.
Germany has previously said it generally supports the idea of the U.S. anti-missile facilities. Host countries Poland and the Czech Republic have not yet made an official decision, but their governments -- unlike the general public -- are positive about the U.S. plans.
