Top level talks between the US and Polish president Friday produced no concrete decision on the possible stationing of 10 US anti-ballistic missile defence bases in Poland, but further talks between the leaders are planned in Washington in mid-July, according to dpa. "The proposed system is not aimed against Russia," US President George W Bush repeated at a press briefing in Gdansk, northern Poland, following informal talks with Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Bush said the US "welcomed Russian co-operation" on the missile shield project aimed at warding off possible nuclear terror attacks by so-called rogue states such as Iran or North Korea. Bush revealed the US and Russia planned to create a joint working group to address the matter. Poland's president Kaczynski echoed Bush's assurances that the planned missile shield installation was in no way aimed against Russia and confirmed missile defence would top his agenda during his upcoming visit to Washington DC in mid-July. He also called on Russia to "recognize the world has changed, particularly that our region and our country has changed." Moscow has used Cold War-era rhetoric to blast the US missile shield project, labelling it as a threat to its national security. The top-level Friday talks between the US and Polish leaders come on the heels of a surprise proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that the US could share Russian radar stations in Azerbaijan as part of the shield. Putin has also suggested Turkey or Iraq, instead of Poland, could host US anti-ballistic missile silos aimed at neutralising the threat of a potential terror attack from so-called rogue states such as Iran or North Korea. Iran has denied having the technical capability of staging an inter-continental missile attack. The US president arrived in Poland Friday afternoon from the G8 meeting in the north German resort of Heiligendamm. The meeting at the Polish president's Baltic Sea-side residence in Jurata was a no-tie informal affair with a family atmosphere, complete with President Kaczynski's 4-year-old grand-daughter Eva playing with a rainbow-coloured slinky. "I think probably the highlight was your grand-daughter," Bush told Poland's Kaczynski at the press briefing following the meeting. Bush's whirlwind visit to Poland lasted just over four hours. He departed Gdansk for Rome, Italy, Friday evening. Several hundred Polish protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the missile shield plans and the US-led invasion of Iraq near the Baltic Sea-side residence of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Jurata. The US is currently in bilateral talks to install a radar-tracking station in the Czech Republic and 10 anti-ballistic missile silos in Poland. Both states are members of the European Union and NATO and former Soviet satellites.
