MOSCOW, May 13 (UPI) -- Russia said Friday it will be forced to respond if the United States deploys missile defenses in Romania.
Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said the military would move to "protect our nation if Russia is not consulted in talks with NATO," RIA Novosti reported from Moscow.
"The Defense Ministry should allow for the worst possible scenario," he said.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, visiting Kazakhstan, said he had discussed the matter with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday, during an Arctic Council meeting in Greenland.
The United States and Romania last week announced a deal to deploy missile interceptors as part of a European missile shield.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher has tried to reassure Russia.
"It is a system that will defend NATO and, if Russia chooses to work with us in a cooperative manner, the system will defend Russia, too," she said last week.
Russia agreed to cooperate with NATO's European missile program at a Lisbon summit last year.
