Befitting reply to US anti-missile base: Defence Minister

Moscow, Mar 23 (UNI) Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has warned that his country will give a befitting response to the deployment of a US interceptor missile base in Europe after its nature and combat potential are clarified.

''What we need to understand is not which countries will host the US interceptor missile base, but rather the nature of the base and how many and what type of missiles it will have,'' Mr Ivanov told reporters.

''Only after we determine that, we will formulate our response,'' he added.

''This issue has been widely discussed for years, including in closed-door talks between Russia and the United States,'' Mr Ivanov noted.

The US administration recently announced plans to set up a base in Europe as part of its strategy to deploy a global missile shield and said it would determine the country very soon.

UNI XC SY DB2210