Sergei Ivanov, who in mid-February was promoted from defense minister and given a supervisory role in the country's nuclear power and defense sectors of industry, was interviewed in his Moscow office April 12.
He said there is no need to intercept medium-range missiles from Iran, and even less so from North Korea, adding that Iran is definitely not going to have ICBMs in the foreseeable future.
"Since there aren't and won't be ICBMs, then against whom, against whom, is this system directed? Only against us," he said.
In January, the United States announced plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland to counter possible attacks from Iran or North Korea, whose nuclear programs have provoked serious international concerns.
Russia, which has been anxious about NATO bases that have appeared in former Communist-bloc countries and ex-Soviet republics, has blasted the plans to deploy anti-missile systems in Central Europe as a national security threat and a destabilizing factor for Europe.
Asked to comment on a recent statement by General Baluyevsky, chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, suggesting that he was linking possible withdrawal from the INF Treaty to U.S. missile defense plans, Ivanov said there is no connection.
"We're not entering into any confrontation with the U.S. and we don't want to. We are not making any anti-U.S. statements," he said.
Russian and U.S. officials are to discuss missile defense plans for Central Europe, which Russia sees as a threat to its national security, next week when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visits Moscow, while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice might visit Russia in May.
Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said Tuesday that in order to ease the Kremlin's concerns, Washington was ready to allow Russian experts to inspect the site likely to be placed in Poland to show that it poses no threat to Moscow.
The U.S. administration disclosed Wednesday the technical parameters of a missile defense system to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic.
It said a total of 10 interceptor missiles in underground silos would be located at the facility in Poland. The interceptor base will require facilities for electronic equipment for secure communications, missile assembly, storage, maintenance, and security.
The State Department said the ballistic missile defense interceptors that would be installed are for purely defensive purposes and have no offensive capability.
"They carry no explosive warheads of any type, relying instead on their kinetic energy alone to collide with and destroy incoming warheads. Silos constructed for deployment of defensive interceptors are substantially smaller than those used for offensive missiles. Any conversion would require extensive modifications, thus precluding the possibility of converting the interceptor silos for use by offensive missile," it said.
