(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-11 09:14

PRAGUE - A permanent presence of Russian experts at the planned US radar base on Czech soil is not the only way to assure Moscow that the radar does not pose any risk to it, Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova said on Thursday.

"If Russia really seeks transparency there are many options to secure it and it need not be a permanent presence (of Russian experts)," the Czech news agency CTK quoted Opletalova as saying.

Opletalova said Russian representatives want to launch talks with the United States, the Czech Republic and Poland about a permanent stay of Russian experts at the missile defense facilities in Central Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a meeting with US President George W. Bush last week that a permanent presence of Russian experts at US military bases might dissipate the Russian fears if a global system were not created.

The Czech Republic still counts with reciprocal Czech-Russian inspections at military bases in both countries, Opletalova said.

However, Russia called it a "joke," and instead proposed that its observers permanently stay at the US radar base in the Czech Republic, CTK said.

The United States plans to build a radar base at the Brdy military district, some 90 km southwest of Czech capital of Prague, along with an interceptor missile base in Poland, but Warsaw has yet to agree to the move.

Russia is strongly opposed to the deployment of the system, saying the plan poses threat to its strategic interests. Some 70 percent of Czech citizens also oppose the project.