Poland sees no sign missile shield talks are off

WARSAW, June 8 (Reuters) Poland said today it had received no signals from the United States that it would stop talks on placing the missile shield in central Europe after Russia's surprise proposal of an alternative plan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to President George W Bush at a Group of Eight summit yesterday that Washington use a Russian-controlled radar in Azerbaijan instead of planned missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.

Russia has vehemently opposed the US missile defence plan, saying it will undermine Moscow's security rather than, as Washington says, defend the United States and its European allies from ''rogue'' nations.

''From the Polish point of view, the negotiations are ongoing,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Robert Szaniawski said. ''We have not received any signals from the US side that they were planning to abandon plans of cooperation (on the shield).'' Bush is due to visit Poland en route from the G8 meeting later today and will discuss the shield with Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

A senior U S official speaking on condition of anonymity said U S Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte phoned Czech and Polish officials late yesterday to brief both countries on the outcome of the Bush-Putin meet.

''Regardless of the Russian proposal, negotiations with the Czechs and Poles will go on,'' the U S official said. ''The US does not see the proposal as a substitute (for the central European anti-missile project), it can only be complementary.'' REUTERS SLD KP1814