Visiting Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said in Washington on Friday he has reached an agreement in principle with the United States on US plans to install a missile defense system in the country.

"We're in the middle of the road. We have an agreement in principle," Sikorski told a press conference with US.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"There is still a great deal of work for our experts," he added, "And, as I mentioned, the prime minister and the president will approve of whatever is done in the meantime, but yes, I'm satisfied that the principles we have argued for have been accepted," Sikorski said.

Sikorski did not outline the terms of the deal, but in a joint appearance with Rice after a working lunch, the two officials suggested that the United States should help with Poland's air defenses, which the latter has asked for in the deal.

"We understand that there is a desire for defense modernization in Poland, and particularly for air defense modernization in Poland," Rice told reporters.

"This is something that we support because it will make our ally, Poland, more capable, it will make Poland, as the foreign minister has said, more able to operate with us," she said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)