U.S. plans to deploy a missile- defense shield in Europe are a "provocation" to Russia, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

"Let's be straight: we believe there have been provocations toward Russia with the plan to place missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic,'' he said during a joint news conference today in Izmir, Turkey, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Source (American): Berlusconi Calls U.S. Missile Shield a 'Provocation' to Russia. Bloomberg, 13.11.2008