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US activates $800m missile shield base in Romania US activates $800m missile shield base in Romania
(about 3 hours later)
The US has activated a land-based missile defence station in Romania, which will form part of a larger and controversial European shield.The US has activated a land-based missile defence station in Romania, which will form part of a larger and controversial European shield.
Senior US and Nato officials are attending the ceremony in Deveselu, southern Romania. Senior US and Nato officials attended the ceremony in Deveselu, southern Romania.
The US says the Aegis system is a shield to protect Nato countries from short and medium-range missiles, particularly from the Middle East.The US says the Aegis system is a shield to protect Nato countries from short and medium-range missiles, particularly from the Middle East.
But Russia sees it as a security threat - a claim denied by Nato.But Russia sees it as a security threat - a claim denied by Nato.
Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014.Relations between the West and Russia have deteriorated since Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in 2014.
Russia is also accused of arming separatists in eastern Ukraine and sending its troops there - a claim denied by the Kremlin. Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other senior officials from the military alliance attended the opening ceremony at an old Romanian air base in Deveselu., 180km (110 miles) south-west of Bucharest.
'Harmful decision' The site hosts radar and SM-2 missile interceptors, and will be integrated into Nato's missile shield when the bloc meets this summer.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and other senior officials from the military alliance attended the opening ceremony at an old Romanian air base in Deveselu. Both Nato and US officials have attempted to reassure Russia that the shield in Romania, and a similar one in Poland, does not undermine Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent.
Mr Stoltenberg said the shield in Romania and a similar one in Poland "in no way undermines or weakens Russia's strategic nuclear deterrent". "The interceptors are too few and located too far south or too close to Russia to be able to intercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles," Mr Stoltenberg said.
"The interceptors are too few, and located too far south or too close to Russia, to be able to intercept Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.'' He said the interceptors were designed "instead to tackle the potential threat posed by short and medium- range attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area".
He said the shield was being deployed "to tackle the potential threat posed by short and medium-range attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area''. But Russia says installing such shields in countries on its doorstep is a threat to its security.
The US is believed to have spent $800m (£554m) on radar and SM-2 missile interceptors since 2013. "Who will this system be against?" President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, questioned. "To begin with the explanation we were given was a potential rocket attack from Iran... Now we know the situation has changed dramatically."
The station - 180km (110 miles) south-west of Bucharest - will have a battery of SM-2 missile interceptors. How does the missile shield work?
Nato and US officials say the system has been developed to track and intercept missiles fired from a "rogue" state. In the past Iran was mentioned in that context, but the US has also had North Korea in mind. The defence system allows on-shore sites and warships to shoot down enemy ballistic missiles while they are still in space.
For years the US has been testing the Aegis system on warships too. The interceptor missiles are fired to hit missiles before they re-enter the atmosphere, stopping them well before there is any danger of causing any damage.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Robert Work has also insisted the shield is not directed against Russia. The US is believed to have spent $800m (£554m) on the site in Romania, where work began in 2013.
He said Nato had offered to show the technical specifications of the shield to the Russians "to make sure that they understand the capability of the system and why it does not pose any type of a threat to their strategic deterrents".
Thursday's activation was strongly criticised by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in Moscow, who said counter-measures have already been taken to ensure his country's security.
"From the very beginning of this whole story, we have said that according to our experts' opinion, we are convinced that the deployment of the missile defence system is truly a threat to Russia's security," he said.
Mr Peskov said it was also unclear which country the shield was being deployed against. He said that initially Russia was told it was to deter a potential rocket attack from Iran, but now "the situation has changed dramatically".
State Duma Defence Committee Chairman Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov also described the shield as a threat to Russia.
"They are moving to the firing line," he told the Interfax news agency. "This is not just 100, it's 200, 300, 1,000 percent aimed against us.
"This is not about Iran, but about Russia with its nuclear capabilities."
The shield works by destroying an incoming missile before it can re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
On Friday, another phase of the project will be launched in Poland with a groundbreaking ceremony at Redzikowo, near the Baltic Sea. Aegis missiles are to become operational there in 2018.On Friday, another phase of the project will be launched in Poland with a groundbreaking ceremony at Redzikowo, near the Baltic Sea. Aegis missiles are to become operational there in 2018.
Russia argues that the Americans' MK-41 launch system could also be used to fire cruise missiles - not just air defence missiles - and is a violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. A new piece in Nato's missile defence jigsaw