Russia says will use military means if U.S. deploys shield

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday it would use military means if the United States deployed a missile defense shield close to Russia’s borders.

“If the real deployment of an American strategic missile defense shield begins close to our borders, then we will be forced to react not with diplomatic methods, but with military-technical methods,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its www.mid.ru website.

The Foreign Ministry said the U.S. missile shield would undermine global security and Moscow’s strategic deterrent. It said Moscow’s proposals to Washington on the shield had been ignored.

Top Russian generals have threatened to deploy Iskander tactical missiles in neighboring Belarus and to resume production of short and medium-range nuclear missiles in response to Washington’s missile defense plans.