TATISHCHEVO, Saratov region. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Russia will pursue all possible measures to oppose the U.S.-European missile defense system if it is not invited to cooperate on the matter or if the U.S. does not drop the plans it has announced, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

"This does not mean the beginning of confrontation, but this means only one thing: we cannot treat their plans indifferently, because this concerns our strategic interests, and this is why I had to make this statement," Medvedev said at a meeting with the commanders of missile regiments when asked whether his harsh statement on the U.S. missile defense system in an address to the Federal Assembly means confrontation with the West.

"As regards the so-called U.S.-European missile defense system, we will do everything just as I said except one thing: unless our partners either drop these plans or offer us some involvement in joint projects in the missile defense area," he said.

Medvedev noted that reactions to his statement were different, with someone considering it too tough and others seeing it as made for election campaign purposes. "This is not a tough statement, because it counts real circumstances that prompted me, as the commander-in-chief, to make the relevant decisions and the measures that will be implemented."

"They are in the process of their implementation now, you know about them, and they will all be completed, as well as the figure of which the (Strategic Rocket Forces, or RVSN) commander said, regarding the RVSN's almost total rearmament by 2020, will be fulfilled. You should have no doubts that this will be fully financed so that everything is prepared and supplied to the troops," he said.

It is obvious that the existing nuclear potential should be efficient, Medvedev said.

"When (U.S. President Barack) Obama and I signed a treaty on reducing strategic offensive weapons, we presumed that we are roughly at parity. This is a more or less a parity situation, which creates or maintains a strategic balance model. As we understand, a missile shield is in fact a continuation of the Strategic Rocket Forces but with the use of different means, that is, an attempt to actually ruin this balance," he said.

Moscow cannot treat this situation indifferently, and these decisions will have to be made, whoever leads Russia or the U.S., Medvedev said. "As you know, they are pursuing a four-phased European missile defense deployment program, I mean the so-called phased adaptive approach, and, to balance all they are doing, we will have to make a host of difficult and costly - although not super-costly - decisions by 2020 or perhaps even by 2018. If they drop these plans by this time - and our partners have sometimes displayed flexibility on this issue - then we will also display such flexibility," he said.

If the missile defense system is built in line with the plan endorsed by NATO, Russia will have to put into practice the measures it has announced, Medvedev said.

"I want to stress once again that this is not some Russian militarism or Cold War rudiments, but this is just sober calculation. We cannot act otherwise," Medvedev said.

Russia's partners with whom it maintains strategic parity should understand this, Medvedev said. "So, we will have enough work," he said.

Keywords: Russia, Missile Defense - Russia News - Russia

TATISHCHEVO, Saratov region. Feb 22 (Interfax) - Russia will pursue all possible measures to oppose the U.S.-European missile defense system if it is not invited to cooperate on the matter or if the U.S. does not drop the plans it has announced, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

"This does not mean the beginning of confrontation, but this means only one thing: we cannot treat their plans indifferently, because this concerns our strategic interests, and this is why I had to make this statement," Medvedev said at a meeting with the commanders of missile regiments when asked whether his harsh statement on the U.S. missile defense system in an address to the Federal Assembly means confrontation with the West.

"As regards the so-called U.S.-European missile defense system, we will do everything just as I said except one thing: unless our partners either drop these plans or offer us some involvement in joint projects in the missile defense area," he said.

Medvedev noted that reactions to his statement were different, with someone considering it too tough and others seeing it as made for election campaign purposes. "This is not a tough statement, because it counts real circumstances that prompted me, as the commander-in-chief, to make the relevant decisions and the measures that will be implemented."

"They are in the process of their implementation now, you know about them, and they will all be completed, as well as the figure of which the (Strategic Rocket Forces, or RVSN) commander said, regarding the RVSN's almost total rearmament by 2020, will be fulfilled. You should have no doubts that this will be fully financed so that everything is prepared and supplied to the troops," he said.

It is obvious that the existing nuclear potential should be efficient, Medvedev said.

"When (U.S. President Barack) Obama and I signed a treaty on reducing strategic offensive weapons, we presumed that we are roughly at parity. This is a more or less a parity situation, which creates or maintains a strategic balance model. As we understand, a missile shield is in fact a continuation of the Strategic Rocket Forces but with the use of different means, that is, an attempt to actually ruin this balance," he said.

Moscow cannot treat this situation indifferently, and these decisions will have to be made, whoever leads Russia or the U.S., Medvedev said. "As you know, they are pursuing a four-phased European missile defense deployment program, I mean the so-called phased adaptive approach, and, to balance all they are doing, we will have to make a host of difficult and costly - although not super-costly - decisions by 2020 or perhaps even by 2018. If they drop these plans by this time - and our partners have sometimes displayed flexibility on this issue - then we will also display such flexibility," he said.

If the missile defense system is built in line with the plan endorsed by NATO, Russia will have to put into practice the measures it has announced, Medvedev said.

"I want to stress once again that this is not some Russian militarism or Cold War rudiments, but this is just sober calculation. We cannot act otherwise," Medvedev said.

Russia's partners with whom it maintains strategic parity should understand this, Medvedev said. "So, we will have enough work," he said.