Russian missile forces will be capable of firing at U.S. missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic if the two European countries decide to host them, a top commander said on Monday.

"If the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic make the decision, the Strategic Missile Forces could put these facilities on the list of targets," forces commander Nikolai Solovtsov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling a news conference.

Consultations are underway and will continue so as "to create certain conditions for this (deployment of missile defense elements in the two countries) not to happen," Solovtsov said.

However, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Monday at a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Warsaw that both countries would probably agree to the deployment of the U.S. missile defense system in their territory.

The United States wants to deploy a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland as part of a U.S.-built shield against ballistic missiles.

The U.S. plans have met with criticism in Russia and may prompt Moscow to withdraw from a treaty on the elimination of short- and medium-range nuclear arms.

The Russian military's chief of staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, has warned Russia could unilaterally pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty if the United States started deploying missile defense elements in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Source: Xinhua