During an official visit to be dominated by talks on the Obama administration’s change of plans for missile defence in Central Europe, United States vice president Joe Biden was expected to moot to Polish officials the possibility of Poland hosting the new SM – 3 anti-missile defence system, media reports said.
 
Biden arrived in Poland for a visit scheduled to include meetings with Polish president Lech Kaczynski and prime minister Donald Tusk.
 
In an interview with a Polish newspaper ahead of the visit, Biden sought to assure Warsaw that Washington’s attempts to ‘reset’ its relations with Moscow would not jeopardise the security of Eastern Europe, Deutsche Welle reported.
 
"We have no agreements with Russia at central Europe's expense and we will not sign any such agreements - Nothing about you without you," Biden said. "We honestly believe that improving the mood between the United States and Russia will contribute to improving security in Europe and will bring benefits to all our allies," he said.
 
Earlier, a US defence official said in Warsaw that Washington would deploy ground-to-air Patriot missiles in Poland in 2010 and had offered Warsaw the chance to host land-based SM-3 missiles for the new European shield system, Polish media said.
 
The SM – 3s, which are mobile anti-ballistic missiles, would be placed at a US military base in Poland, as part of the Obama administration’s new flexible missile defence plan.
 
The BBC said that Poland was keen to host either Nato or US military installations because it believes they would improve its security.