Medvedev: Obama's approach on missile shield responsible
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Russia values US President Barack Obama's responsible approach on missile shield in Europe, and is ready to continue dialogue, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev?in Moscow?on Thursday night.
"We appreciate the responsible attitude of the US president to implement our agreements. I am ready to continue dialogue," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.
Obama's statement hours earlier on Thursday concerning US "new approach" on missile shield has created a fairly good environment for joint assessment of global missile proliferation risks, said the Russian head of state at a televised speech.
Medvedev hoped that Russia and the United States can jointly devise missile nonproliferation measures, and said he would discuss with Obama issues concerning missile defense during their meeting in New York on Sept. 23.
Obama announced Thursday abandonment of the controversial missile defense shield program in Eastern Europe, saying a "new approach" will deploy effective technologies against missile threat from Iran.
Obama's predecessor George W. Bush and his administration planned to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of its European missile shield, in a so-called prevention its European allies from missile threat by "rouge state".
Russia strongly opposes the measure, saying it poses threat to its security.
Obama in his statement reassured Russia that "our clear and consistent focus has been the threat posed by Iran's ballistic missile program, and that continues to be our focus and the basis to the program that we are announcing today."
"In confronting that threat, we welcome Russians' cooperation to bring its missile defense capabilities into a broader defense of our common strategic interests, even as we continue our shared efforts to end Iran's illicit nuclear program," said Obama.
Seeking Russia's cooperation on dealing with challenges, such as financial crisis, proliferation, climate change, terrorism, the Obama administration has vowed to "press the reset button" with Moscow through more bilateral strategic cooperation and conversation.
