Russia: Could aim nuclear missiles at Ukraine if it joins NATO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, February 13th 2008, 10:11 AM
MOSCOW - Russia could aim nuclear weapons at Ukraine if the former Soviet republic joins NATO and accepts the deployment of anti-missile defenses on its territory, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
Putin spoke at a news conference in Moscow after four hours of talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who has said joining the Western alliance is a priority for his country.
"That of course is Ukraine's internal process ... and we don't have the right, and we won't, interfere in this process," Putin said. But, he added, "that raises the question for Russia of the need for retaliatory actions."
"It's frightening not just to talk about, but even to think about, that in response to such deployment, the possibility of such deployments — and one can't theoretically exclude these deployments — that Russia will have to point its warheads at Ukrainian territory," he said.
The warning was Putin's strongest to date about Kiev's efforts to join the Western alliance.
Yushchenko responded at the same news conference by saying Ukraine has the right to form its own foreign and defense policies, and noted that the Ukrainian constitution does not allow for the deployment of foreign bases on its territory.
"You understand well that everything that Ukraine does in this direction is not in any way directed at any third country, including Russia," Yushchenko said.
Last month, Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Ukraine's parliament speaker signed a formal request asking NATO to consider Ukraine's bid for a Membership Action Plan at its meeting in Romania in early April.
The membership plan is a a crucial step on the road to joining the alliance.
The Kremlin announced Tuesday that Putin would attend the NATO meeting.
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