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Deployment of Russian S-300 missiles in Abkhazia no threat to region - Kouchner

07 September 2010 19:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The deployment of Russia’s S-300 air defense systems in Abkhazia does not disturb the balance of power in the region, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Tuesday, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
"What Russia has deployed in Abkhazia are anti-missile systems, and I don’t see any serious disturbance to the balance in the region," Kouchner said during a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Paris.
"They don’t pose any threat to anybody," he added.
Russia said in mid-August that it had deployed S-300s in Abkhazia - a statement that angered Georgia but failed to surprise Washington, which said the systems appeared to have been in place for the past two years.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and neighboring South Ossetia in August 2008 after winning a brief war with Georgia over South Ossetia.
France is interested in resolving the issue of Washington’s plans to build a missile defense shield in central Europe, Lavrov said.
"We see that France wants to move forward on this issue in such a way so as not to create risks for countries in the Euro-Atlantic region," Lavrov said.
"We want to move on to a general analysis, to a general view of the risks that exist in the missile proliferation," he added.
The Kremlin says the Washington’s missile shield plans are unjustified, especially in light of U.S. President Barack Obama’s drive to reset relations with Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski witnessed the signing of a protocol amending a Bush-era deal between the United States and Poland on the deployment of elements of a missile shield in Poland on July 3 in Krakow.
Poland will now host a temporary U.S. military base neat the Polish town of Morag, just 80 km (50 miles) from the Russian border. U.S. troops will be deployed to train Polish forces at the site until 2012, when the base is expected to become permanent.
Moscow has said it "does not understand the logic" behind the decision to open the base and has expressed concern over its proximity to Russia.
The United States is also in talks with Bulgaria and Romania on deploying elements of a missile shield on their territories from 2015.