MOSCOW — Russia’s top military officer has threatened to deal a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial missile defense plan.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last year Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach agreement with the United States and NATO. Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov on Thursday went further, raising the ante in the missile defense controversy.

“A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” he said

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov also warned Thursday that talks between Moscow and Washington on the U.S.-led NATO missile defense plan in Europe are “close to a dead end.”