NATO has dismissed fears that Russia might pose threats to the EU, but says that Europe will develop a missile defense shield regardless.
In an interview in the BBC's Hardtalk program, NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer ruled out any Russian threat against Europe despite the existing differences, including Moscow's support for South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the US' planned missile shield in Eastern Europe.
The alliance's secretary general further said that the West has no reason not to trust Moscow
During former US president George Bush's administration, Washington pressed with a plan to deploy 10 missile inceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.
The plan drew strong opposition from Russia, which views the missile shield a direct threat to its national sovereignty.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened in November to retaliate over the US plans by deploying Iskander-M missiles in the country's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, near Poland and Lithuania.
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, however, said last week that Moscow would not follow through with its threat to deploy the missile systems in Kaliningrad if the United States gave up its missile shield plans.
The system is equipped with two solid-propellant single-stage 9M723K1 guided missiles with "quasi-ballistic" capability. The missiles have a range of 400 km (250 miles) and can reportedly carry conventional and nuclear warheads.
Scheffer, however, underscored Europe's need for a defense shield to catch up with the technological, military advancements and a considerable increase in the number and fatality of the arsenal in the hands of terrorists.
The remarks come amid reports that Russia is expanding production of precision guided weapons.
So far, two missile battalions on combat duty in the North Caucasus military district have been fully equipped with Iskander-M. A part of Moscow's plans is to equip at least five missile brigades with Iskander-M systems by 2016.
MRS/MMN