Russia's foreign minister says that Moscow reserves the right to withdraw from the new arms control treaty with the United States if it consider prospective US missile defense systems threaten its security.
Sergey Lavrov noted, however, that the current plan for a US missile defense site in Romania poses "no threat" to Russia's strategic nuclear forces.
President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev are to sign the new nuclear arms reduction treaty in Prague Thursday.
Lavrov told a briefing Tuesday that Russia would issue a separate statement underlining its right to opt out of the treaty after Obama and Medvedev sign it.
He also urged the US to jointly analyze global threats before proceeding further with missile defense plans.