UPDATE 2-Russia to discuss U.S. missile shield with Poland

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By Conor Sweeney

Russia said on Tuesday it would hold talks with Poland in early 2008 over U.S. plans to build a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe, adding it hoped relations would improve with the new Polish government.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, adviser to President Vladimir Putin, said relations between the countries had worsened recently as Warsaw looked towards Washington and Brussels.

"I am happy there will be discussions over the missile defence shield," he told a news conference.

"For the past two years there has only been difficulties ... we hope that relations with the new Polish government will truly be better."

Yastrzhembsky, seen as a powerful backroom figure inside the Kremlin, said he hoped problems that had damaged relations with Poland and the European Union could soon be resolved, such as the end of a meat row and the start of talks on a new agreement.

"We note the declarations and signals from Donald Tusk and members of his cabinet. We consider them very promising," Yastrzhembsky said of the new Polish prime minister.

Washington wants to station interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic as part of a shield it says is designed to protect Europe from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.

Russia believes the shield is targeted at its missile arsenal and that it poses a threat to national security.

Moscow has offered Washington access to data on missile launches from Russian radars if Washington drops its missile shield plan. But the Pentagon sees the radar offer as a supplement to its shield, not a substitute.

Last month Poland's new government said it was ready to consult Russia over its hosting of a U.S. missile shield, a reversal from the previous administration's stance to discuss the matter only with Washington.

"The previous (Polish) government refused to talk to us," Yastrzhembsky said. "The information we will provide (to Poland) will help them to look at the problem in another way."

Poland's deputy speaker of parliament said he hoped Moscow and Washington could reach agreement on the shield.

"We are seeking to convince our Russian friends that placing elements of the American missile defence in Europe is not a threat to Russia," Stefan Niesiolowski said by videolink from Warsaw, in response to the Kremlin aide. (Editing by Matthew Jones)

Keywords: RUSSIA POLAND/SHIELD

[MOSCOW/Reuters/Finance.cz]