Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed on Sunday a Russian warning that the positioning of a US anti-missile base in Poland could trigger a Russian ballistic missile attack.
He was replying to a Russian warning that the firing of a weapon from a US anti-missile system in Poland could be misread by Moscow's automated defences, triggering the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in return.
"When I hear the words of a Russian general about an automatic reaction, that recalled the worst of times to me," said Tusk, whose country was an unwilling member of the Soviet bloc from 1944 to 1989.
"Remarks of that type are impermissible, because no Russian general is going to influence Polish-US negotiations on the question."
Defence minister Radoslaw Sikorski had said earlier Poland would listen to Russia's arguments but would take its own decision on the missile shield. Sikorski, who is due to meet Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak shortly, said: "We have not yet reached a conclusion as to whether the anti-missile shield is necessary."
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