MOSCOW. July 8 (Interfax) - The intention by the U.S. to site elements of its missile defense system in Europe can be explained by the fact that Washington sees Russia's nuclear and missile arsenal as a threat to the U.S., chairman of the Scientific Council of the Moscow Carnegie Center Dmitri Trenin told Interfax on Tuesday.

"There are many answers to the question of U.S. plans and aims in relation to Russia, but the most probable answer is that the U.S. sees Russia's nuclear potential as the most serious threat to the U.S.' existence," he said.

"Ideally, the U.S. would like to have the tools to neutralize the Russian nuclear and missile potential. The U.S. is also interested in creating a global system of missile defense in the third positioning area since it has created such bases in Alaska and California," he said.

The U.S. can refuse to deploy missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, he said.

"There is a chance that Congress could decide that a missile defense system is not a priority and review the projects for the deployment of these systems. In U.S. history, the missile defense system has never been favored by lawmakers, it has had as many victories as defeats, and so the situation will develop in differing ways," he said.

If the U.S. does not review this idea, then "Russia will be able to count on measures of confidence and control in the area of missile defense systems, that is an admission of inspectors and other measures for Moscow to be sure that the missile defense systems deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic will not harm the Russian containment forces.