From DPA:  Russia will beef up its forces on the NATO front if talks between Brussels and the Kremlin on missile defence fail to move towards resolution by the end of 2011, a senior government official said Friday.

"The talks right now are at a dead end," said Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s ambassador to NATO, told the Interfax news agency.

"If they (NATO) do not by the end of the year tell us exactly what they’re planning … we will respond."

His comments came ahead of Monday’s Russia-NATO summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. . . .

Russian officials on Thursday said the former Soviet republic Belarus, which is flanked on two sides by NATO states, will likely become the first foreign recipient of Russia’s advanced S-400 air defence system, which is designed to shoot down missiles.   (photo: Reuters)

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