Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to point the country's missiles at neighboring Ukraine if the country joins NATO and allows the United States to deploy its missile defense shield within its borders. Coming days after a hawkish speech in which Mr. Putin blamed the United States for sparking a new arms race, Putin's comments were the latest sign of rising tensions with the West as Russia reasserts itself on the world stage.

At a press conference in Moscow with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Putin warned of retaliatory actions, reports The Washington Post.

"It is horrible to say and even horrible to think that, in response to the deployment of such facilities in Ukrainian territory, which cannot theoretically be ruled out, Russia could target its missile systems at Ukraine," Putin said...

According to the Associated Press, the "warning was Putin's strongest to date about Kiev's efforts to join the Western alliance."

Yushchenko, for whom joining the Western alliance is a priority, responded by asserting Ukraine's independence to act as it pleases, while seeking to soothe Russian worries, reported England's Daily Telegraph.

Mr. Yushchenko responded to the Russian pressure by insisting on Ukraine's right to decide its own foreign policy while stressing that his country's constitution would not allow US military bases on its territory.

"You understand well that everything that Ukraine does in this direction is not in any way directed at any third country, including Russia," he replied.

"We follow the principle that any nation has the right to define its own security. Our constitution does not allow deployment by a third country or bloc on Ukrainian territory."

But, on Wednesday, Yushchenko urged parliament to take constitutional action to prevent NATO military bases should it receive NATO membership, reports Russia's state-run RIA Novosti.

The Russian threat comes days after Putin warned of a new arms race, provoked by Western military expansion in eastern European countries traditionally within Russia's sphere of influence.

In a televised speech last Friday, less than a month before the election that will see Putin hand power to his chosen successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the outgoing President warned against interference in Russia's neighborhood, reports the International Herald Tribune:

"Putin spoke strongly against NATO's expansion into former Soviet bloc states of eastern Europe and said Moscow would respond by modernizing its military and weapons systems.

He said the West has failed to respond to Russia's security concerns about U.S. plans to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic and new military bases in Romania and Bulgaria.

"We haven't seen any real steps toward compromise," Putin said.

He warned that a new arms race is under way. "It is not our fault because we did not start it," he said.

Putin has long opposed the expansion of the US missile defense system. The system has been primarily aimed at threats from states such as North Korea and Iran, and not Russia, according to a 2007 presentation overview by the United States Missile Defense Agency. The project's stated strategic objective is to

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