Poland does not sign missile defense

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tried and failed just before leaving for Europe on Monday to seal a deal to place missiles in Poland, the State Department said.

But even with her personal intervention, Rice left for Europe without a key piece of the U.S. plan to put missiles on the continent to protect against "rogue states" such as Iran, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Rice met with her Polish counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Radoslaw Sikorski, at the State Department.
She will be in Prague on Tuesday to sign a treaty with the Czech government to allow the radar for the missile system to be placed there.
It is still possible that she could extend her European schedule and add a trip to Poland if negotiations in the next couple of days produce a Polish government agreement to put the missiles on its soil, McCormack told reporters at his regular midday briefing.
"The fact that the Polish foreign minister is here today is evidence that we are continuing to work on these negotiations," he said.