US President George W. Bush said yesterday that no military response is
necessary to Russia's threats to re-target Europe if Washington continues with
its defense missile plan in Eastern Europe.
"Russia is not an enemy," Bush told reporters before the summit of the Group
of Eight (G8) industrialized nations in the northern German resort of
Heiligendamm.
"There needs to be no military response because we're not at war with Russia.
Russia is not a threat. Nor is the missile defense we're proposing a threat to
Russia," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently threatened to take "retaliatory
steps," including looking for new targets for nuclear weapons in Europe, if the
United States continues with its plan to build a missile defense system in
Eastern Europe.
The United States plans to place a radar system in the Czech Republic and 10
interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland in the name of defending against
possible attacks from Iran.
Russia has accused Washington of raising a new arms race in the region, which
Washington denies.
Putin has yet to arrive in Germany for the three-day G8 summit which is
expected to focus on climate change, Africa development and the Doha Round talks
of the World Trade Organization.
The G8 club groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and
the United States.
