Moscow highlighted the need to carry out...

Romanian President Traian Basescu said on Thursday his country welcomes talks with the United States on a plan to deploy interceptor missiles as part of the U.S. missile shield to protect European allies.

"We would like to stress again that our position ... is based on the need to conduct a joint assessment of emerging missile threats," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

A U.S. State Department official said earlier the facilities in Romania are due to become operational by 2015 and are designed as protection against "current and emerging ballistic missile threats from Iran."

U.S. President Barack Obama scrapped missile shield plans for Poland and the Czech Republic last year, which infuriated Russia. But Washington announced a new scheme for a more flexible system, with a combination of land- and sea-based interceptors, to be deployed in Central Europe by 2015.

The Foreign Ministry admitted that Russia is concerned about the issue

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