Russia is concerned over U.S. plans on the deployment of its missile shield elements in Romania and Turkey, but “is not dramatizing” the situation, a Russian deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday.
“There is nothing new for us [Russia] in the deals with Romania and Turkey. There is nothing dramatic about it,” Sergei Ryabkov said.
“We are first of all concerned how the formation of the missile shield is being boosted and the fact that our position is ignored does not add any certainty at all that the future system would not be aimed against us,” the diplomat added.
Russia has retained staunch opposition to the deployment of missile-defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be a security threat.
NATO says it needs the shield, which will be eventually deployed in the Mediterranean, Poland, Romania and Turkey, to counter the threat of missile attacks from Iran.
Russia and NATO agreed to cooperate on the so-called European missile shield during the NATO-Russia Council summit in Lisbon in November 2010. NATO insists there should be two independent systems that exchange information, while Russia favors a joint system with full-scale interoperability.