"It is in the interests of the West... to have a stable Russia. Russia's history and some of its complexes must therefore be taken into account," said Jaruzelski, now 84.

As Jaruzelski spoke, Russia was swearing in Dmitry Medvedev as its third post-Soviet president. Vladimir Putin, Medvedev's predecessor and now nominee for prime minister, has clashed with the West over the missile shield and NATO enlargement.

Describing Russia's new leaders as 'cold pragmatists and patriots', Jaruzelski said Moscow regarded the prospect of NATO expanding into ex-Soviet territory as "provocative" and said Europe should seek security arrangements that embraced, rather than excluded, Russia.

"Poland must be really careful not to be a troublemaker in this field," said Jaruzelski.

Poland, a NATO member since 1999, has irked Russia with its strong support for Ukraine to join the alliance and also with its offer to host missile interceptors on its soil as part of U.S. plans to counter possible attacks from Iran.

Medvedev is expected to continue Putin's policy of opposing both initiatives as major threats to Russian national security.

NATO leaders agreed at a summit last month to give Ukraine and Georgia eventual alliance membership but did not grant them Membership Action Plans, a formal roadmap for entry.

ACCOMMODATING RUSSIA

Asked whether Moscow should have a right of veto on NATO enlargement into its backyard, Jaruzelski said: "The decision (on whether to take in Ukraine and Georgia) should not be taken against Russia, it must accommodate the needs of both sides."

Jaruzelski said he did not see the relevance of the proposed missile shield for Poland's security needs but he did not expect it to lead to a serious breakdown of ties between Moscow and Warsaw if it were finally built.

"I think Russia and Russians see all such installations -- not only in Poland or the Czech Republic, but also in Turkey for example -- as another attempt to surround, entrap it," he said.

U.S. negotiators were in Warsaw on Wednesday for talks on the shield. Warsaw has set tough conditions for its agreement, including billions of dollars in U.S. investment to upgrade Polish air defences.

Jaruzelski remains a controversial figure in Poland. He is still on trial for his decision as Polish Communist Party chief to impose martial law in 1981, a move that led to the deaths of dozens of peoples and the jailing of hundreds more.

Wearing his trademark dark glasses, Jaruzelski repeated his view that martial law was "the lesser evil" that spared Poland from Soviet military intervention and the bloody fate that befell Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.

Historians are divided over whether the Soviet Union could have invaded Poland at a time of mounting economic woes at home and a costly war in Afghanistan.

Jaruzelski's own family was deported to Siberia at the start of World War Two. He later joined a Polish army assembled by the Soviets and took part in the battle for Berlin. After the war he rose swiftly in the Polish Communist Party.

"I understand the Russian mentality," he said.