俄罗斯总统普京再次警告说,如果乌克兰、捷克共和国和波兰允许美国在他们的边境内部署导弹防御系统,俄罗斯导弹就会瞄准这三个国家。普京在今年5月离任前的最后一次年度记者会上还说,俄罗斯不打算与西方发生冲突,而且除非被迫无奈,也不会将导弹瞄准任何国家。

俄罗斯坚决反对美国在波兰部署10枚导弹拦截器并在捷克共和国境内部署制导雷达的计划。美国说,这项计划是防范来自伊朗等无赖国家的导弹攻击。俄罗斯宪法禁止普京再次竞选总统,但是他亲手选定的接班人德米特里.梅德韦捷夫在3月2号大选之前的民意测验中大幅领先。

Russian President Vladimir Putin has again warned that Russian missiles will be pointed at Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Poland if those countries allow U.S. missile defense facilities to be deployed within their borders. Speaking at his last annual news conference before stepping down in May, Mr. Putin also said that Russia did not plan a conflict with the West, and would not point its missiles at any state unless it was forced to do so.

Russia is strongly opposed to U.S. plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland, and guidance radar in the Czech Republic to protect against missile attacks by rogue states such as Iran. Mr. Putin is constitutionally barred from running for president again, but his hand picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has a wide lead in the polls ahead of the March 2nd election.