Russia to reconfigure military presence in Baltic exclave

Russia’s top general said Wednesday that the nation could reconfigure its military presence in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad due to U.S. missile defense plans in Eastern Europe.

The military’s General Staff wanted to ensure troops are "capable of guaranteeing the protection of Russian interests," the AP reports.

No details of the plan were given.

In March 2007, the U.S. announced plans to build an anti-ballistic missile defense installation in Poland along with a radar station in the Czech Republic. Both nations were former Warsaw Pact members.

American officials said that the system was intended to protect the United States and Europe from possible nuclear missile attacks by Iran or North Korea. Russia, however, viewed the new system as a potential threat and, in response, tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-24, which it claimed could defeat any defense system. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that these new tensions could turn Europe into a "powder keg". On June 3, 2007, Putin warned that if the U.S. builds the missile defense system, Russia would consider targeting missiles at Poland and the Czech Republic.

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