No matter what happens with Polish-Russian relations, Moscow will be concerned by the deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles near Kaliningrad, a senior member of Russian parliament said on Friday.
Relations between Moscow and Warsaw have got better in recent months, and Konstantin Kosachyov said Russia's response to the plane crash near Smolensk that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski was a unique chance to further improve ties.
The head of the State Duma's foreign affairs committee warned, however, that the issue of the missiles was not going away.
"I am sure that even if a miracle happens and our relations in other fields are 100% normalized, our questions over Patriot missiles will continue to exist until we will get clear answers," Kosachyov said during a video linkup between Moscow and Warsaw organized by RIA Novosti.
Poland said in late January it would deploy a battery of U.S. Patriot missiles to the town of Morag, just 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The missiles were originally planned to be stationed near Warsaw.
Kosachyov said it was naive to believe that stabilization of the Russian-Polish relations would automatically remove any questions, most importantly whom they would target.
"We understand that these missiles are defensive," he said. "But it is clear that their performance characteristics are designed to be dropped from Poland's nearby district."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Thursday that Moscow was deeply concerned with the plans of the United States to deploy Patriot missiles in Poland near the Russian border.
Kosachyov said that the tragedy near the Russian western city of Smolensk where Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other Polish officials were killed on April 10 in an air crash might help to bring both countries together.
"The recent tragic events provide a unique chance to bring changes in the diplomatic relations between our two countries, but it is just a chance and I am far from saying that attitudes have changed for the better," Kosachyov said.
"We have begun to treat each other better, but there are the same problems we had before in our interstate relations," he continued.
The Soviet-made Tu-154 aircraft carrying a top-level delegation hit the top of trees as it attempted to land at an airport in thick fog. The Polish leader and other top government officials were en route to a ceremony in Katyn to pay tribute to some 20,000 Polish officers killed by Soviet secret police during World War II.
MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti)
