Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday inaugurated an early warning radar station in the Baltic province of Kaliningrad, which he said showed Russia's readiness to respond to a missile shield system that the United States wants to install in Europe.
Medvedev also said Russia was still ready to talk to the United States and to NATO over possible cooperation on missile defence, DPA reported.
"Respected (NATO) friends! This radar system is not aimed at you," Medvedev said. "The door for dialogue is not closed."
"Unfortunately, we so far do not sense readiness on the part of our American and European partners (to negotiate). We cannot be satisfied with verbal statements," he said.
Russia says the planned US system is a threat to its nuclear deterrent. Washington says the system is designed to protect Europe from a potential Iranian ballistic missile attack.
"I hope that this step will be taken by our western partners as the first signal of our country's readiness to respond to the threat that this missile shield would place on our nuclear deterrent," said Medvedev.
Medvedev has also threatened to station modern surface-to-surface missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave surrounded by NATO member states Lithuania and Poland. Russia's early warning radar is capable of detecting missiles and aircraft at long range.