Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at NATO for its expansion up to Russia's borders and refused to drop a threat to aim its missiles at Ukraine if it joins the military alliance.

Russia would have no choice but to respond if its neighbor hosts bases and missile-defense sites, ``which we see as a threat to our national security,'' Putin told a televised annual press conference in Moscow today. He also repeated warnings that Russia would target a planned U.S. missile-defense base in Poland.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday said Russian threats toward Ukraine are ``unacceptable,'' and Putin's government should know it can no longer intimidate former Soviet republics. Putin issued a similar warning to Ukraine after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko on Feb. 12.

Russia is alarmed at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's expansion further into former Soviet territory after the Baltic states joined the alliance in 2004, bringing it within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg. It also opposes U.S. plans to deploy anti- missile defense systems in eastern Europe, saying they are designed to neutralize Russia's nuclear deterrent.

Russia's relationship with Ukraine has been tense since Yushchenko became president in 2004 after defeating a Kremlin- backed candidate. Yushchenko wants to join the European Union and NATO as he seeks to loosen ties with Russia forged over the centuries the two states were part of one country.

NATO Bid

Another former Soviet republic, Georgia, is also seeking NATO membership. Both Georgia and Ukraine want to be declared eligible to join at some future date when NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest this April.

Putin said that a majority of Ukraine's population opposed NATO entry and accused the Ukrainian leadership of riding roughshod over democratic principles.

Russia opposed -- and was powerless to halt -- the first two rounds of NATO's post-Cold War expansion, which brought one- time Soviet satellites in eastern Europe and the Baltics into the alliance between 1999 and 2004.

Attempts by NATO to expand deeper into ex-Soviet territory would doom the alliance and lead to the breakup of Ukraine and Georgia as sovereign states, Russia's ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Kosovo Conflict

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said the alliance's members alone would decide who joins the organization. ``The only countries that can decide on the enlargement of NATO are the NATO countries. And no other country has a say in this process,'' Appathurai said today.

Turning to the looming conflict over Kosovo's expected declaration of independence, Putin said the European Union should be ``ashamed'' of its ``double standards'' for seeking to recognize a unilateral declaration of independence by the Serbian province.

To do so would be ``immoral and illegal,'' Putin said.

Kosovo, a breakaway region of Serbia with a majority ethnic Albanian population, will declare independence as early as Feb. 17, the Serbian government has said. Most EU nations and the U.S. are expected to endorse Kosovo's move.

The Russian leader became angry when asked by a French journalist if Russia's move to revive Soviet-era military parades on Red Square reflected a return to a Cold War-era mentality.

Cold War

Raising his voice, Putin said Russia wasn't being aggressive or confrontational and was simply defending its interests. ``The suggestion that we're striving to return to the days of the Cold War is a very bold one. We have no interest in this,'' he said.

Putin denounced a European conventional arms control treaty that Russia pulled out of last year in response to the U.S. missile-defense plans, saying it imposed ``colonial'' conditions on his country by limiting internal troop movements.

NATO nations had refused to ratify an adapted version of the treaty and meanwhile ``one base appears, then another, one missile defense site, then another, closer and closer to our borders,'' he said. ``How much longer can we put up with this?''

Putin in November accused NATO of ``muscle-flexing'' along Russia's borders, and said that while Russia was reducing its armed forces on its European territory, NATO was building new bases in Bulgaria and Romania in addition to the planned U.S. missile-defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Missile Shield

The U.S. wants to station 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.

Russia has dismissed arguments that the shield is needed to counter the threat of a missile attack from so-called rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. The dispute has provoked tensions reminiscent of the Cold War.

Thanks to revenues from oil and gas exports, Russia is reviving its military clout to counter the U.S. The country has restarted Cold War-era strategic bomber patrols and is upgrading its air force and missile arsenal.

In an incident harking back to the days of the superpower standoff, a Tu-95 long-range bomber buzzed a U.S. aircraft carrier at 2,000 feet (600 meters) last week in the western Pacific Ocean.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net; Sebastian Alison in Moscow at Salison1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 14, 2008 09:14 EST