Aug. 20, 2008 -(LPAC) - In response to yesterday's accelerated signing of an agreement for the emplacement of U.S. ballistic missile defense batteries in NATO member Poland, as well as NATO's meddling in the South Ossetia crisis, the Russian government has taken a number of tough, but carefully formulated actions:

* AMBASSADOR TO NATO RECALLED. Dmitri Rogozin, Russia's Permanent Representative to NATO, has been recalled to Moscow "for consultations with the Russian leadership on the full spectrum of relations between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Alliance, including military cooperation," a member of Rogozin's mission told RIA Novosti today.

* FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT. The Foreign Ministry today issued an official statement on the signing by foreign ministers Rice and Sikorski. It cited the the entire "development of the military and political situation in Europe, whereby the American strategic capability is steadily advanced toward our borders." While new radars in the Czech Republic "cover practically the entire European part of our country," the interceptor missiles in Poland "have no targets other than Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, nor will they have in the foreseeable future," the statement said

The Foreign Ministry statement linked the speeded-up Polish signing with the events in the Caucasus. "For a long time, we were assured that American anti-missile preparations were not directed against Russia. ... We cannot fail to take into account the fact that, for years, while pumping weapons into Georgia, Washington assured us that these steps were not directed against Russia. Now, when the irrational actions of the Georgian leadership have killed and wounded thousands of people in South Ossetia and Russia, including Russian peacekeepers, it is becoming more and more obvious what such assurances are worth."

At the same time, the Foreign Ministry kept open the possibility of returning to serious talks on missile defense, which had been the subject of a major initiative by then-President Vladimir Putin at Kennebunkport last year. "Even in this difficult situation," the statement said, "we do not intend to give up the dialogue, and are prepared to continue to work on this topic with all interested parties."

* LAVROV URGES USA NOT TO THROW WHOLE RELATIONSHIP OUT. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov directed a similarly tough message to the U.S. elites, or at least that segment which reads the Wall Street Journal. In an article published there today under the headline "America Must Choose Between Georgia and Russia," Lavrov also wrote, "We'll continue to seek to deprive the present Georgian regime of the potential and resources to do more mischief. An embargo on arms supplies to the current Tbilisi regime would be a start."

Lavrov, too, voiced hope that U.S.-Russia relations not go out the window: "Russia is committed to the ongoing positive development of relations with the U.S..... Our bilateral relationship can only advance upon the basis of reciprocity.... I meant precisely that when I said that the U.S. will have to choose between its virtual Georgia project and its much broader partnership with Russia."

* AIR DEFENSE AGREEMENT WITH BELARUS. Yesterday President Dmitri Medvedev received Alexander Lukashenka, the President of Belarus, in Sochi. They will sign an agreement in the fall of 2008 on creating a common air defense system, it was announced by Kremlin aid Sergei Prikhodko. Belarus is located between Poland and Russia, being the major East European nation that has made no bid to join NATO.