June 7, 2007 :: CNN :: News
President George W. Bush planned to discuss US plans to build a missile defense system in Eastern Europe with Russian President Vladimir Putin while in Heiligendamm, Germany, for the G-8 summit. The proposed American system would involve ten Ground Based Interceptors in Poland and a radar facility in the Czech Republic, is designed to defend against a limited missile attack from countries in the Middle East, such as Iran.
A number of Russian officials, including Putin, have expressed serious concerns that the system could serve to negate its offensive nuclear arsenal, resents the placement of the facilities in its former sphere of influence. Putin has also threatened that any such deployment could result in Russian retargeting of its missiles toward Europe. President Bush has reiterated that the ten interceptors pose no threat to Russia's broad strategic forces, and said he hoped to convince Putin that the proposed U.S. missile interceptors is not an issue "to be hyperventilating about."
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