Moscow, 8 July: The Czech Republic and Poland must understand that American missile defence elements on their territory would be targets as well as defence installations, the president of the Politics Foundation, Vyacheslav Nikonov, said.

"All parties must understand that missile defence installations are components of the US strategic system of deterrence and all such installations are targets by definition," he told Interfax on Tuesday (8 July).

According to the political analyst, the signing of the US-Czech agreement on the stationing of missile defences is an unpleasant development, but it is not the end of the road.

"This is an unpleasant development, but it is not a final chord yet, because about 70 per cent of the Czech Republic's population are against the construction of this radar. Nor is there a majority in the parliament of the Czech Republic necessary for the ratification of this treaty. That is why the national government and the Americans will have to work hard to make sure that today's accords enter into legal force," Nikonov said.

"It is unpleasant that the agreement has been signed. There is no reason why Russia should approve of the construction of radars near its borders that could be used not just for the surveillance of our territory but also for targeting it. It is clear that this has nothing to do with Iran because Iran simply does not have any missile systems capable of reaching the Czech Republic. Russia is being told that it will be given signal data from this station, but this cannot be taken seriously because, as long as it cannot be verified, any information can be presented as real," the political analyst stressed.

He said he did not believe that Russia should take any steps in response to the signing of the US-Czech agreement.

"Russia should maintain its tough position, which is that the stationing of missile defences is not in our national interest. If the establishment of such a radar station is considered essential, Russia should be a participant in this project and Russian military specialists, with the requisite equipment, should also be there," the political analyst said.

(Passage omitted: background).