Patriot missiles for Poland

Poland is set to host a battery of United States Patriot missiles and the American troops to man it from the start of April, PAP news agency said yesterday.

The Patriots are part of a Polish-US agreement signed in December to upgrade the Nato member's air defences, following Washington's decision last September to scrap a Bush-era Missile Shield incorporating installations in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia has repeatedly warned against stationing Nato missiles in former Soviet-bloc countries and said it would beef up its naval base across the border from Poland in its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad.