Deputy Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, Poland's top negotiator on the planned U.S. anti- missile system, said in an interview for media that Russia showed a "psychological problem" in opposing it.

Russia knows that 10 missiles which are not equipped with any kind of warhead cannot do any harm against Russian military might, he said.

"From the technical point of view, we cannot convince them. They ignore, they neglect, our arguments, and they are saying that any kind of a military installation on the territory of Poland or the Czech Republic, that is on the territory of new member NATO states, is not acceptable for them," Polish PAP news agency quoted Waszczykowski as saying.

This means they have a psychological problem, a kind of mental problem, to understand that these countries that joined NATO eight years ago, in 1999, are really sovereign, are not part of Soviet or Russian domination any more, he stressed.

Waszczykowski added that Poland feared that Russia will react by building up their forces and placing weapons on the Polish border - either in Kaliningrad or in Belarus.

On Jan. 20, the United States proposed installing parts of its anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, a move strongly opposed by Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned earlier that the project could trigger a new arms race.

The United States said the shield is designed to intercept rockets fired against it from the central or Far East.

Source: Xinhua