US Missile Debate

"European security should not be divided in a way that benefits certain countries only, such as Poland and the Czech Republic," Yanukovich told the German newspaper Die Welt in an interview.

Trilateral talks would ensure the planned interceptor missiles and their accompanying tracking stations did not pose any dangers, said the prime minister, who enjoys the open support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If we're talking about a global security system, Ukraine can also make a contribution. To date we've been treated as though we do not exist," Yanukovich told Die Welt.

The US plans to extend its missile defence system into Europe have been met with hostility by Russia which has taken exception to the idea of building a radar system in the Caucasus region.

The "forward deployable radar" would provide an "early acquisition track" on any hostile missile for a bigger radar system based in the Czech Republic, US Air Force Lieutenant General Henry Obering, the head of the US Missile Agency, said this week.

"It's transportable radar, it's something that you can set up in a matter of days, very, very fast. We have time to work out where that location could be," he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Proposed Caucasus site raises Russian concerns

When asked which country in the volatile Caucasus region might be willing to host the site, he said: "I am not at liberty to talk about that in any length ... suffice to say that we would like to place a radar in that region."

Obering, who met with Russian officials in Brussels during two days of talks this week, played down any potential risk this mobile radar could pose to Russia.

"That radar would be oriented into Iran. We can't turn it around to look into Russia, and even if we can, it can't see far enough to be able to establish a track on a Russian missile," he said.

The United States announced in January it had begun negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic to install radar and 10 missile interceptors, prompting strong objections from neighbouring Russia and an outcry in Europe.

Washington maintains that the system would help protect its European allies and is only meant to be used against "rogue threats" from countries like Iran or North Korea.

Obering was unable to say what was really behind Russia's hostility, which he said had surprised the United States. "I don't want to guess, but there's something else, obviously, there must be something else they are concerned about. But I frankly don't believe that it is a concern about changing the strategic balance between the United States and Russia," he said.

"These are not offensive missiles, they are defensive missiles and they do not have warheads."

He said that Russia would be welcome to inspect the European sites, if the Czech Republic and Poland agree. "If it's OK with those nations, it's OK with us," he said.

EU nations free to choose, says Solana

European Union defence chiefs sought to ease Russian concerns over the US plans and said the 27-nation bloc wanted "solid" relations with Moscow.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, attending a meeting of the bloc's defence ministers in the German city of Wiesbaden this week, said every EU country was free to decide whether or not to accept the US system.

Solana reiterated the US pledge that the defense system was just that -- a defense system and that if the missiles were placed on European soil, there would be no threat. "Poland the Czech Republic do not represent a threat to anybody," said Solana. "We must do our utmost...to have good, solid relations with Russia," he added.

While it was "questionable" whether the EU faced any security threat today, the situation could change in the future, said Solana. He added, however, that the bloc was "not considering the establishment" of a similar anti-missile system.

Germans see possibility of a parallel EU system

This contradicted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's own statements last month when he said Europe was considering its own missile defence system but acknowledged that Europe does not yet have the technological know-how to build a rival to the US system.

"I think that a lot of countries are interested in these (defense) systems. Time will tell how many of these are effective," Steinmeier said. "In Europe, we are also thinking about the creation of such systems and of their deployment. But for the moment we are not very far advanced in terms of the technology."

German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters last week that the US plan to establish a radar station in the Czech Republic and an underground missile silo in Poland did not pose a security threat to Russia. Jung also said the US plan should be discussed within NATO.

Obering explained that the European part of the system will see 10 interceptor missiles set up in Poland in an area the size of a soccer field, at a total cost of up to $2.5 billion (1.9 billion euros).

The radar system in the Czech Republic -- to be moved there from its current base in the South Pacific region -- would cost some 500 million dollars.