Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Polish counterpart on Monday that Moscow would not put pressure on Warsaw over its readiness to host a U.S missile shield, as both sides sought to mend poor relations, according to Reuters. Differences over whether Poland should host part of a U.S. defence system and a Russian ban on Polish meat imports have for two years plagued relations between the ex-communist allies. "We are not going to exert pressure on anyone. We want our concerns to be understood," Lavrov told a press conference after initial discussions on the missile shield. Talks between Lavrov and Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski did not yield a breakthrough on whether Poland will host the shield but smoothed the way for a visit by the country's new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, on Feb. 10. "I told the Polish minister today that we understand that Poland will make a decision based on its own security interests. I expressed hope that Poland will take into consideration pan-European security issues," Lavrov said. Sikorski said he was willing to continue the dialogue with Russia over the missile shield but said that unlike Russia, his country had neither ballistic nor nuclear weapons. Russia argues that the shield would make it vulnerable to a U.S. strike.
