Reassuring Russia

Addressing the EU parliament's foreign affairs commission, Jung said the planned system was "aimed at protecting populations."

Asked about the US plan to install part of the anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Jung said: "I think it is good that in NATO, as with the NATO-Russia council, we are working together to assuage possible doubts".

Although Jung has voiced support for the US scheme, it is not a view that is universally backed within the German cabinet.

But he did insist it was important for the West "to work on a partnership basis with Russia" on the matter, he added.

Russia should be convinced of the argument so as "to reach an agreement for the protection of populations, for European populations in particular," he said.

Protective measure?

The United States has asked the Czech Republic to host a radar system and Poland to host interceptor rockets as part of its missile defense plans.

Washington insists the anti-missile shield is intended as protection against attacks from "rogue states" such as Iran. It points out that the proposed system would be useless against Russia's vast weapons arsenal.

But Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said it could spark a new arms race and that it was a needless distraction from the fight against terrorism.

Preventing a nuclear Iran

Jung also told the European deputies that every possible diplomatic effort should be made "to prevent Iran from equipping itself with nuclear arms". He added: "It is vital for world peace. The United States, Russia, Europe and China must work together."

President Putin had been very clear on one point, he continued.

"It is also in Russia's interests that Iran does not possess atomic weapons," Jung said.

On April 19, at NATO's Brussels headquarters, the 26 NATO allies -- including 21 EU member states -- will discuss the anti-missile system in the North Atlantic Council and then with Russia at a NATO-Russia meeting.

Russia still critical

Putin has strongly criticized the plans for the US missile defesce system.

"Why is it necessary to put military infrastructure on our border? It's hardly connected to today's global threats. What is the real threat? Terrorism," Putin told a security conference in Munich in February.

That speech marked a further worsening of relations between Moscow and Washington under Putin, who has tried to restore Russia's prestige since the economic collapse that followed the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.