Putin warns he will point missiles at Europe - paper

Russia will once again aim its missiles at targets in Europe if US plans to build a missile defence shield near Russia's borders go ahead, President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying yesterday.

In an interview reported in Italy's Corriere della Sera, Mr Putin acknowledged Russia's response risked restarting an arms race but he said Moscow would not be responsible for the consequences because Washington had started it.

Mr Putin made the tough statement days before a Group of Eight summit in Germany on Wednesday where, among other world leaders, he will come face to face with US President George W. Bush.

Russia has not expressly targeted its missiles at Europe since the end of the Cold War but, asked if it would do this again if the US missile shield plant went ahead, Mr Putin said: "Yes, naturally."

"If the American nuclear capability widens across European territory, we will have to give ourselves new targets in Europe," Italy's leading daily quoted Mr Putin as saying.

Russia's combative response to the US missile shield has prompted comparisons with the Cold War. Mr Putin has directed angry rhetoric at the White House, last week calling US policy "imperialist".

But Russia has gone further, test-launching a new ballistic missile in a move it tied to the US missile plans, and suspending its compliance with a treaty limiting the deployment of conventional forces near Russia's western borders.

Mr Putin's warning that missiles might once again be pointed at European targets carries a clear political message but it has few practical implications.

Even after the Cold War ended, Russia retained the capability of hitting European and US targets. Training ballistic missiles on a particular target is a fairly simple technical task that can be done in a matter of minutes.

The Corriere della Sera report was based on an interview Mr Putin gave on Friday to selected media from G8 countries to set out Russia's position before the summit.

Russia's response to the US missile moves would be to develop "more effective offensive systems", the Italian newspaper quoted Mr Putin as saying.

"We know that that risks restarting an arms race, for which we will not be responsible. It was not us who started altering the strategic balance, it was not us who unilaterally abandoned the ABM (anti-ballistic missile) treaty."

The US pulled out of the 1972 ABM treaty in 2002 so it could begin deploying its missile defence shield.

Washington wants to locate elements of its planned shield - including a radar station and interceptor missiles - in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It says the shield is not a threat to Russia but is designed to protect against possible missile attacks from what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Mr Putin said that was not credible. "There are no Iranian missiles with the necessary range," he said. "So it becomes obvious that this innovation is about us Russians."