Agence France-Presse,
WARSAW: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is unlikely to sign a deal with the United States on hosting a US anti-missile system when he visits Washington next month, Defence Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Saturday.
“I don't know whether we will be able to give all the details in legal language,” Sikorski told Polish state radio. “I doubt it.”
“Political decisions are being taken at the highest level but agreements require a lot of work.”
Sikorski said in Washington Friday he had secured an agreement in principle for aid to modernise Polish air defences in return for Warsaw's hosting the controversial US missile shield.
But he added that “a great deal of work” remains, while his host, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, spoke of “some progress” and “some momentum” on missile defence.
Tusk is due to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington in March, though the precise date has not been fixed.
Amid concerns about the potential risks of hosting US missile interceptors, Warsaw has been pressing Washington to help upgrade the Polish armed forces, and notably to boost the country's air-defence system.
The US shield plan, which calls for associated radar stations in the Czech Republic to counter feared attacks by “rogue states” such as Iran, is strongly opposed by Russia.
Tusk has demanded extra US security guarantees should Poland host the shield, possibly in the form of a Patriot missile air defence system.
Rice said Friday Tusk's talks with Bush would “go forward with some of the larger issues.”
