Negotiations with Washington over plans to place part of a US missile shield in the Czech Republic will take "several months," Czech junior foreign minister Tomas Pojar said on Tuesday.
"I do not think we will be able to conclude an agreement ... by the end of the year," he told journalists on the margins of a visit by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Prague.
"It will take several months more," but "it should not take more than six months longer," Pojar said.
Until now, the Czech and US sides have said they want to try and tie up talks over siting an anti-missile radar here by the end of the year.
The radar will be twinned with missiles in neighbouring Poland which would provide a defence against "rogue" states such as Iran.
"We will not artificially prolong negotiations, but we must pay attention to the details of these agreements because that will be crucial for us in obtaining the agreement of parliament," Pojar said.
A third round of negotiations between Prague and Washington aimed at paving the way for a final agreement is scheduled for "next week and the week after," Pojar said.
The centre-right Czech government, like that of Poland, had agreed in principle to host elements of a US anti-missile shield in spite of opposition from a majority of the population and outright hostility from Russia.
Moscow sees the extension of US bases in what was one part of the Soviet bloc as a threat to its own security.
