Viktor Yanukovych (file photo)

Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych says a planned U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland will hurt Ukraine's relations with those two countries.

Mr. Yanukovych told Tuesday's edition of Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper that such a project will not be beneficial to those ties.

He said the United States should have discussed its plans with Ukraine and Russia first.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried said last week that Washington explained the missile defense system to Moscow and NATO. Washington says the system does not threaten Russia or any other country and is aimed at defending against a threat from the Middle East.

Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Tuesday his government will open talks with the United States on hosting the missile defense system within weeks.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, PAP and Reuters.