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Kiev (AFP): The head of the US missile defence programme met Ukrainian officials Wednesday in a bid to allay concerns over US plans to place elements of its missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Lieutenant General Henry Obering, chief of the US Missile Defence Agency, reiterated Washington's assertion that the proposed shield posed no threat either to Ukraine or its eastern neighbour Russia.
Rockets that the US wants to place in Poland “are defensive weapons and do not even carry any type of explosive or warhead,” Obering told reporters.
Their only purpose was to counter a perceived growing threat from Iran, he added.
Obering, who arrived in Kiev on Tuesday, has been meeting Ukrainian officials in several government agencies and ministries during his stay.
Before leaving Ukraine, he expected to brief officials in the office of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, he said. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials on the talks.
During Obering's press conference, security personnel had to forcibly eject a handful of protestors who managed to disrupt the proceedings by heckling him. They waved banners and chanted “Yankee go home!” before being removed.
Outside the venue where Obering spoke, around 50 protesters chanted “Don't Let the NATO bandits in!” and “Ukraine, Belarus, Russia!”. They waved banners that read “We Are Not Yankees — We Are Slavs!”
The protests reflected the enduring mistrust and resentment that some people in this former Soviet republic still harbour towards the US.
As well as being sharply criticised by Russia and some Ukrainian officials, the US missile defence plans have also prompted concern in the European Union, particularly in Germany.
Obering's visit was part of a public relations drive to counter claims criticism that Washington has not done enough to expain to countries in the region why it needs to place missiles of any kind in the area.
Obering repeated the US message that the missile defence shield was needed to counter a threat from Iran.
“What we don't want… is to wake up and have an Iranian long-range missile capability and not have a defence against it,” said Obering.
In the unlikely event of debris falling back to Earth after a missile interception, that debris “could not fall on Russia or Ukrainian territory,” Obering said.
He also held out the prospect that Ukrainian industry might be able to play a role in developing the missile defence shield, something that analysts here have said could ease scepticism.
Obering said Washington had been consulting with Ukraine on the plans since 2002. In the last year “we have seen space industry cooperation that could emerge from these discussions,” he added.
“Ukrainian industry could benefit by cooperating, as well as US industry.”
No one has suggested that any elements of the missile shield could be sited in Ukraine.
But a substantial part of Ukraine's population has been angered by President Viktor Yushchenko's courting of the West and his hopes of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also expressed concern over the US programme. On Tuesday, she called for the United States to hold open discussions with Russia over its missile defence plans.
