The Russian official said his country viewed the stationing of the NATO missile umbrella as a `legitimate target` for a military attack.
He reiterated the NATO missile shield was an `illegal weapons system.`
Rogozin pointed out that Russian Iskandar missiles were capable of `destroying` NATO`s anti-missile system if it were deployed against his country.
He labeled NATO`s missile defense in Europe an `American provocation.`
Rogozin said time was running out for a solution to the conflict over the missile umbrella ahead of NATO`s next summit in Chicago.
Earlier this year, Rogozin had called for `legal guarantees` by NATO that the anti-missile umbrella was not directed against his country.
`We want clear guarantees that this system is not directed at us,` said Rogozin in a speech to the Berlin-based German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in April.
There have to be `legal guarantees and criteria` for Russia to participate in the missile project, he added.
Plans by former US president George W. Bush to install 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar site in the Czech Republic had long been a source of conflict and were a major reason for the worsening of US-Russian ties in the Bush era.
Moscow had branded the missile shield a `national security threat.`
(Uu.H-AK)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
