On December 15,2007 Russia`s Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Yuri Baluevsky told the Moscow news conference that firing an interceptor from the U.S. missile defense shield in Poland could be mistaken for the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and provoke a retaliatory strike from Russia. Chief of russian General Staff Yuri Baluevsky (sitting) and Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov at the meeting with commanding officers of russian Armed Forces in Moscow