Brussels/Paris, Nov. 14 : U. S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has accused Russia of engaging in Cold War brinkmanship through its threats to position nuclear weapons on its European border.

Gates claimed that the Kremlin was trying to intimidate President-elect Barack Obama into dropping American plans for a new missile defence system based in Eastern Europe.

He claimed that Russian President Medvedev had threatened to place missiles in Kaliningrad, and added: "such provocative remarks are unnecessary and misguided.”

Gates was speaking in Estonia, and hinted strongly that threat to place the short-range Russian missiles, in territory neighbouring the EU countries of Poland and Lithuania, was intimidation.

Russia has said that it will not go ahead with its threat if the new Washington administration climbs down on plans to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic. (ANI)