Putin threatens to aim nuclear missiles at Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush face tough talks on US anti-missile defence plans and the future of Kosovo at a summit in Maine this weekend, a top Kremlin official said on Friday.Putin foreign policy advisor Sergei Prikhodko said he hoped Bush would signal Washington's readiness to cooperate with Russia on international security problems during their talks at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine, on Sunday and Monday.Chief among these disputes is a US plan to deploy an anti-missile system in the Czech Republic and Poland."If the United States is ready to acknowledge that it needs to work with us and evaluate with us the potential threats, that is one thing. If they are going to be prisoner to the blinked ideas of their military, that is another question," Prikhodko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.RIA Novosti quoted Prikhodko as saying the issue "is not military, but a political question. Either (the United States) looks to the future or it remains in the past.""Prikhodko also said that Kosovo is a critical problem. The Russian side is ready for a serious discussion," Interfax news agency reported.Russia opposes a US-backed plan to give Kosovo near independence from Serbia and is threatening to veto any attempt at getting UN Security Council support for the move.Prikhodko also spoke out against the "strengthening in recent times of unfounded criticism of Russia for our supposed retreat from democratic principles," Interfax reported.He accused "certain political forces" in both countries of using Russian-US tensions as "a bargaining chip" ahead of Kremlin and White House elections in 2008.The biggest source of tension ahead of the summit has been the US anti-missile system plan.Washington says the system in central Europe would guard against potential missile attacks from Iran or North Korea, but Moscow says that Russia is the true target and Putin has threatened to aim nuclear missiles at Europe if the deployment goes ahead.At the G8 summit in Germany earlier this month, Putin offered what he said was a compromise deal in which the United States would be allowed to make use of a Russian-leased radar in ex-Soviet Azerbaijan.Washington has given a mixed reaction to the idea, which will be discussed at Kennebunkport.However, Prikhodko expressed optimism, praising Bush as "a responsible partner" and saying that the informal setting for the talks would help."The US side's choice of the location for the meeting is perfect: an informal contact of the leaders in a peaceful, informal setting," he said, Interfax reported.