(dpa) - Czech and US negotiators resumed their bilateral talks Thursday on the main treaty establishing conditions under which the Czech Republic would allow the United States to build a missile- shield base on Czech soil, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.
The talks, which are led by Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Tomas Pojar and US Under Secretary of State John Rood, are not expected to end Thursday.
In early 2007, Washington asked Prague and Warsaw to host a tracking radar and 10 interceptor missiles for its defence system, which it says is being developed to prevent so-called rogue states such as Iran from proliferating long-range missiles.
The two formerly communist members of NATO and the European Union entered into separate, bilateral talks with the US.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek is planned to discuss the defence system during his Washington visit between February 25 and 28. He is scheduled to meet US President George W Bush in the White House on February 27.