Russia is reiterating a warning over the Bush administration’s missile system in Eastern Europe. Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia will deploy short-range missiles near Poland if the US proceeds with its controversial missile defense program. In the US, the statement was widely seen as a threat to the incoming Obama administration. But on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov emphasized it would only apply if the US carries out its plan to place missiles near Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: “We declared through the words of our president: if the Third Positioning Region of the US anti-missile shield is created physically, one of the physical measures to neutralize the inevitably emerging threats to Russia’s security will be to deploy Iskander systems in the Kaliningrad region. But it is only in the situation if the Third Positioning Region is created physically.”

Under the plan, Poland would host ten ballistic missiles along with a radar site in the Czech Republic. A majority of public opinion opposes the missile deployment in both countries. The Bush administration says the missile system would protect Europe from Iranian missiles, but it’s widely seen as a first-strike weapon. President-elect Obama’s plans for the missile system are unclear; he’s only said he won’t commit to it before taking office.