The United States" decision to deploy a...

Russia"s response was predictable: it demanded an explanation from the U.S. It wanted to know what kind of ground facilities Washington planned to deploy in Romania. The U.S. intention to send Aegis-equipped ships with SM-3 missiles into the Black Sea also caught Russia"s attention.

Russia"s Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told the Munich Security Conference that Romania was a signatory to the 1936 Montreux Treaty, which imposes strict limits on the presence of outside powers in the Black Sea.

On the other hand, Russia"s reaction to placing an anti-missile shield in Romania was milder than when the U.S. planned to deploy GBI interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar tracking station in the Czech Republic. This is understandable: a system using SM-3 block I or block II missiles will pose no threat to Russian nuclear forces, just as the earlier planned base in Poland equipped with the same missiles.

In fact, this facility, planned for deployment by 2015, is

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