Washington and Warsaw keep talking despite Poland’s resistance to US missiles there. 
The Associated Press
Poland and the United States said Monday that missile defense talks would continue despite Warsaw’s rebuff of the latest U.S. offer.
Following talks with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski rejected the suggestion that the hastily arranged meeting was aimed at salvaging a deal to allow U.S. interceptors on Polish soil.
"There is no need to salvage, because talks have continued all along and will continue," he said.
He called the meeting productive and said that Poland had clarified its position.
On Friday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that an offer of U.S. security aid in exchange for allowing long-range U.S. interceptors in Poland had not met Polish security needs. Poland is seeking U.S. short- and medium-range anti-missile systems including a Patriot missile battery to shore up its own defenses.
"Poland presented a new variant of what stationing Patriot batteries in Poland could look like," Sikorski told Polish reporters Monday following his talks with Rice.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday that the United States was still seeking a breakthrough, though he added that it has other options should negotiations fail. U.S. and Lithuanian officials have recently discussed missile defense plans.
"You always have in the back of your mind, Plan B, C or D, but our energies are still focused on talking to the Polish government as evidenced by the foreign minister’s visit today," he said.
Washington and Warsaw opened negotiations 18 months ago on placing the 10 missile interceptors in northern Poland to protect the U.S. and Europe from possible future attacks from Iran.
The base would be linked to a radar-tracking system Washington wants to build in the Czech Republic. Prague has agreed in principle to the plan, but the Czech parliament still must approve the deal.
While in Washington, Sikorski was scheduled to speak by telephone with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday evening. He was expected to meet with Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Tuesday.
Sikorski said that the Polish government has great respect for both candidates.
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