U.S.-Russian relations continue to deteriorate with the signing of an agreement with Poland Wednesday to place a U.S. missile-defense base 115 miles from the Russian border.

The deal is part of a planned missile-defense system in Poland that Russia views as a threat. "Russia in this case will have to react, and not only through diplomatic protests," Russia's Foreign Ministry warned darkly.

Russia also aimed another threat last Friday when Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said: "Poland, by deploying (the strike system), is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has pointed out that the system is defensive and designed to repel an attack from countries such as Iran or North Korea. "Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one," she said. "It is in our defense that we do this."

Fueled by Russia's invasion of Georgia, tensions are at "a new level," said Leon Aron of the American Enterprise Institute, based in Washington. He said that Russia, flush with oil revenue, "will be looking for other means to assert itself."

The United States has also agreed to place a radar-tracking system in the Czech Republic which, like Poland, is a NATO member.

Many Poles believe the recent agreements make them safer from Russian aggression. Poland and the United States signed a mutual-commitment pact to assist each other immediately if one is being attacked.

Meanwhile, Moscow ponders these events as President Bush continues warning Russia to withdraw from Georgia, which he says includes South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

It is not exactly the Cold War, but U.S.-Russian relations are at their lowest point in many years.