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Polish President supports stance on anti-missile shield

Other News Materials 10 July 2008 20:56 (UTC +04:00)

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that President Lech Kaczynski was ready to support the country's tough stance on anti-missile shield talks with the US, reported dpa.

This was despite Kaczynski's earlier qualms that bargaining too hard would hurt Polish-US relations, Tusk told the Polish Press Agency.

"I have the impression that after hearing my arguments and after familiarizing the president with the details and conditions of the negotiations, the president pledged his readiness to support (the talks,)" Tusk said.

The two politicians had met for over two hours Wednesday amid reports of negotiations between Warsaw and Washington reaching deadlock and the US looking for another host, possibly Lithuania.

Poland wants a big military aid package in exchange for US rights to put 10 interceptor missiles on its soil.

Russia suspects the shield could be used against it, despite US claims the system is meant for protection against "rogue states" like Iran.

The Czech Republic - which is to co-host the system with Poland - agreed on Tuesday to its part of the deal. dpa dm sc

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