Poland and the United States may sign an agreement within the week on installing a U.S. anti-missile base in Poland, a senior Polish official said on Sunday.
"The negotiations are winding down and everything points to an agreement being signed -- or not -- this week," Zbigniew Chlebowski was quoted by Polish news agency PAP as speaking on a public-affairs radio.
Chlebowski, head of Paland's ruling Civic Platform party's parliamentary caucus and mouthpiece for Prime Minister Donald Tusk, declined to give any details, according to PAP.
Meanwhile, head of Polish President Lech Kaczynski's chancellery Anna Fotyga said over the weekend the United States wants agreement with Poland on the deployment of elements of the anti-missile shield.
"I get the impression that the U.S. administration would like to bring the talks to the final," she told TVN 24 TV station after returning from Washington where she met top foreign policy aides to President George W. Bush.
Talks on the shield between the United States, Poland and the Czech Republic opened at the start of last year. The United States plans to install in Poland a base of 10 interceptor rockets and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic, to shield the United States and its allies from attack by what it calls "rogue" states, particularly Iran.
In return for its agreement to install the shield, Poland wants the United States to participate in the modernization of the Polish army, mainly of its air defense.
Russia has objected the anti-missile shield plan, saying it will threaten Russian national security, and has warned that Moscow will target its missiles at the system if it is deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Source:Xinhua
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