MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Russia will adjust its
foreign policy in response to the approach of NATO's military infrastructure
toward its borders and U.S. plans to deploy missile defense systems in eastern
Europe, a high-ranking official said on Tuesday.
"Naturally,
we cannot ignore these issues in our foreign political planning, including their
possible implications for Russia's national security and our relations with NATO
and the United States," Alexander Kramarenko, director of the Foreign Ministry's
external policy planning department, told the Interfax news agency.
In line with a presidential instruction, the ministry
has carried out a review of the country's foreign policy, which provided the
chance for "developing well-based proposals on adjusting our policy in certain
areas," he said.
These recommendations took into account the entire
range of international and regional problems facing Russia in its foreign
relations, including "the approach of NATO's military infrastructure toward
Russian borders and U.S. intentions to reconfigure its military presence in
Europe," he said.
The U.S. State Department has announced that the
Czech Republic and Poland had agreed to start detailed discussions with
Washington on hosting part of a U.S.-built shield against ballistic missiles.
The United States wants to deploy a missile defense
radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland.
The plans have met with criticism in Russia.
Kramarenko said Russia's willingness to develop ties
with NATO depends on its readiness to consider Russian security interests and
its ability to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan.
"Our attitude to NATO depends on how the alliance
considers Russian security interests, how efficiently it stabilizes the
situation in Afghanistan and how it counters the drug and terrorist threats
emanating from that country in practice, not in theory," he
said.
