Putin missile remarks "unwelcome" - NATO

BRUSSELS, June 4 (Reuters) NATO led criticism today of President Vladimir Putin's latest attack on a planned US missile shield, but Western reaction was generally muted ahead of a Group of Eight (G8) encounter with Putin this week.

The Russian leader warned in an interview released yesterday that Russia would revert to its Cold War stance of aiming missiles at Europe if Washington pursued its plan to site parts of its planned shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Putin acknowledged that such a response risked reviving an arms race in Europe but said Moscow could not be blamed because Washington had started the escalation.

''As far as I am aware, the only country speculating about targeting Europe with missiles is the Russian Federation,'' NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.

''These kind of comments are unhelpful and unwelcome,'' he added of remarks that will do little to ease tensions between Russia and the West before a G8 summit in Germany on June 6 where Putin will meet US President George W Bush.

Reactions elsewhere in Europe reflected concern that the dispute over the US plan is spiralling despite efforts by US officials to soothe Russian concerns.

Asked at a news conference to comment on Putin's remarks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would raise the matter with Putin on the sidelines of the G8 meeting.

''He called for a trusting and frank dialogue. It will for my part be frank,'' he told reporters of the planned encounter.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman said locating shield components in Poland and the Czech Republic would not change the strategic balance between the United States and Russia, but added: ''Given President Putin's statements, in-depth discussions seem to still be necessary to dissipate concerns that could arise.'' In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman stressed US arguments that it was not technically feasible for the US missile shield to counter the Russian missile threat, and urged calm.

''We want to be able to talk about issues such as Kosovo, Iran and other world global issues in a constructive way,'' the spokesman said.

''Equally, Europe as a whole ... does have concerns with Russian behaviour and will not be shy in expressing those concerns,'' he added.

European officials have raised concerns about reported abuses of human rights and democracy in Russia and fear Moscow is increasingly using its huge energy resources as a lever to exert influence in its region and beyond.

The United States says its shield is aimed at intercepting missile threats from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea, but Russia argues there is no threat from those countries and that the system is really aimed at neutralising its arms.

Washington has acknowledged it was slow to explain the shield to Moscow and other NATO allies. The dispute is likely to dominate a meeting of NATO defence ministers with their Russian counterpart in Brussels scheduled for late next week.

REUTERS AM KN2145