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US Secretary of State Rice to visit Poland

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-18 09:35

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Washington on Sunday she would visit Poland in coming days to sign an agreement on installing American interceptor missiles on Polish territory.

Related readings:  Poland, US sign anti-missile shield deal  Moscow denounces US-Poland missile deal

"I'm going to Poland to sign a missile defense agreement in the next couple of days, after the NATO meeting," Rice told Fox News Sunday.

Polish and US negotiators reached an agreement on Thursday to deploy parts of the US global missile shield in Poland after Washington improved the terms of the deal amid the Georgia crisis.

The agreement reportedly provides for deploying Patriot missiles in Poland, without specifying their number, and strengthening Polish-US military cooperation. It also includes a declaration of US military cooperation in case of a threat to Poland from third states.

The forthcoming NATO meeting, due to be held in Brussels on Tuesday, will discuss the on-going war between Georgia and Russia over the pro-Moscow region of South Ossetia.