Washington"s new missile shield plans for...

Bulgaria and Romania said they were in talks with the United States on hosting elements of its missile shield on their soil. The planned deployment of U.S. interceptor missiles into the Black Sea region triggered fierce criticism from Moscow, which is finishing up negotiations with Washington on a new nuclear arms cuts treaty.

"We have been holding extensive discussions on our plans to deploy interceptor missiles," U.S. Ambassador John Beyrle told reporters in St. Petersburg, reiterating they did not pose a threat to Russia.

Beyrle said the treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1) - the cornerstone of post-Cold War arms control, which expired on December 5 last year - would be signed shortly. "We are working on final details," he said.

The planned deployments in Bulgaria and Romania come after President Barack Obama scrapped earlier plans for a radar and interceptor missiles in the Czech Republic and Poland, which Russia opposed as a national

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