Moscow upset at missile shield deal

By Arshad Mohammed and Jan Lopatka

PRAGUE (Reuters) - The United States signed a pact on Tuesday to build part of a U.S. missile defence shield in the Czech Republic, prompting neighbouring Russia to warn it will react with military means if the shield is deployed.

The U.S. and Czech foreign ministers toasted with champagne after signing the accord to place a tracking radar southwest of Prague as part of a system to protect against the perceived threat of missile attack from countries such as Iran.

But Russia, in a statement reminiscent of Cold War rhetoric, warned the United States against deploying the shield close to its borders.

"If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defence shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with diplomatic methods, but with military-technical methods," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its www.mid.ru website.

It did not give specifics but analysts said the threat appeared aimed at stoking European opposition to the shield.

In response, the Pentagon accused Moscow of trying to make Washington's European allies nervous with its aggressive talk.

"I can only assume Russia's bellicose rhetoric is designed to make Europeans nervous about participating in this system, but that won't work," said press secretary Geoff Morrell.

Still, the White House said it would keep talking to Russia, trying to explain that the missile shield was not aimed against Moscow.