MOSCOW, December 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia does not plan to build additional military facilities in the Kaliningrad Region, its exclave bordering on Poland, a Russian presidential aide said on Tuesday.
"We have no need to build additional military facilities in the Kaliningrad Region, as we do not consider Poland to be our enemy. We have no plans that could worry Poland today," Sergei Yastrzhembsky said during a video conference between Moscow and Warsaw hosted by RIA Novosti.
Yastrzhembsky, President Vladimir Putin's top adviser on relations with the European Union, also said Russia's proposal on the joint use of the Gabala radar in Azerbaijan is still being considered by Washington.
The United States plans to deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and 10 missile interceptors in Poland, purportedly to counter a missile threat from Iran and other "rogue" states. Moscow has opposed the plans, saying the European shield would threaten Russia's national interests, and has offered Gabala as an alternative.
The presidential aide said problems related to potential missile threats must be resolved on a multilateral basis.
"When they act in a way that tries to bypass Russia, in immediate proximity to our territories, of course we discern a potential threat, primarily to the Russian Federation."
He also stressed that Russia poses no threat to EU or NATO countries.
"We took note of a statement by Poland's former prime minister [Jaroslaw Kaczynski], who said that 'that main purpose of these facilities is not the prevention of an attack by Iran or North Korea, but protection of Poland from Russia'," he said.
He said the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate's finding that there is no evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons provided proof that Washington's justification of its missile shield plans is ungrounded.
The previously frosty relationship between Poland and Russia has improved since Donald Tusk's election victory in October. Under the new premier, Moscow and Warsaw have agreed to tackle the two main disputes holding back their relations.
Moscow has announced plans to lift its two-year embargo on Polish meat supplies, while Warsaw has pledged to drop its veto a new EU-Russia cooperation pact, imposed in response to the trade restrictions.
Poland's government signaled a further distancing from the ex-premier's staunchly pro-Washington stance earlier in the day, requesting that the president approve a complete withdrawal of Polish troops from Iraq by the end of October 2008.
The Russian presidential aide said the state of relations with Poland over the past two years has been "utterly deplorable."
"We believe our relations deserve something much better, that they can become one of the bridges linking Russia to Europe."
