Questions over U.S. missile shield remain unanswered: Russian FM

Russia has not received answers from the United States regarding its plans to build missile defense sites in eastern Europe, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

"We and our American colleagues have been discussing this issue and we have asked them to answer the questions and respond to concerns we naturally and reasonably have, but most of our questions remain, without any coherent answers," Lavrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia has been consistently advocating full transparency and full trust in matters of strategic stability, Lavrov said, stressing the need to tackle such issues "transparently and democratically, not unilaterally."

The United States is seeking to deploy a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as part of a U.S.-built shield against ballistic missiles.

U.S. officials have said the missile defense system is not targeted at Russia, but the plans nevertheless have drawn sharp criticism from Moscow.

A top Russian military commander has warned Russia's Strategic Missile Forces could put these facilities on the list of its targets if the two countries decide to host them.

Source: Xinhua