DW-World.de
Deutsche Welle

Washington has dismissed Moscow's angry response to US plans to establish a missile defence shield in Europe as ''bellicose rhetoric''. Earlier, Russia threatened military action if a US anti-missile shield were to be set up near its borders. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said in New York that it was an obvious response to developments. The comments came just hours after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a missile defence deal with the Czech Republic in Prague. The treaty allows the US to build and operate a radar base near Prague. Washington claims the missile shield is necessary to ward off potential attacks by so-called "rogue" states such as Iran. The plan is widely opposed by Czech citizens, and the country's centre-right government may have to rely on opposition votes to ratify the treaty.