Poland and US 'closer' to missile deal: foreign minister

Warsaw: The United States and Poland are "closer" to a deal on a proposed US missile shield to be housed in Poland, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Monday after talks with a top US official.

"It was a good meeting, bringing the positions of Poland and the United States closer on the subject of the anti-missile shield," said Sikorski, after meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried.

The talks came ahead of "an important meeting" Wednesday of a strategic Polish-American commission, said foreign ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski.

Paszkowski on Friday said Warsaw was waiting for a response to its demands for extra security guarantees from Washington.

Warsaw has been lobbying the United States to provide a Patriot-type air defence system in exchange for a Polish green light to host the controversial US missile shield, a project endorsed by NATO but strongly opposed by Russia.

The US wants to base 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar facility in the neighbouring Czech Republic by 2011-13 to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states, notably Iran.

The shield would complete a broader US system already in place in the United States, Greenland and Britain.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sealed the main radar agreement with Czech Republic earlier this month, but the Czech parliament still has to give the project a final green light.