Russia's Medvedev hopes to discuss missile shield with Obama

MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday he hoped to discuss U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield system in Central Europe with U.S. President Barack Obama at a G20 summit in London.

The summit of the G20 advanced and leading emerging economies will be held in April to shape a new global financial architecture and work out measures to fight the global financial crisis.

In an interview with the Spanish media, Medvedev said he hoped the new U.S. administration will display a more creative approach to this issue than the previous administration.

Medvedev said the U.S. idea to deploy elements of a missile shield in Europe was not topical and only caused the feeling of "disappointment" as it was aimed, if not directly, then indirectly, against Russia.

"Of course, Russia does not like it. This is absolutely obvious. No one denies the existence of various threats, including the threats that may be accompanied by the acts of nuclear terrorism, threats from countries with instable regimes. But let us respond to these threats jointly rather than isolating each other from these processes," Medvedev said.

Washington has agreed plans with Warsaw and Prague to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic by 2013. The United States says the defenses are needed to deter possible strikes from "rogue states" such as Iran.

Russia has consistently opposed the missile shield as a threat to its national security and the balance of security in Europe. Medvedev threatened in November to retaliate if the U.S. plans went ahead by deploying Iskander-M missiles in the country's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

Obama indicated earlier that he may put on hold his predecessor George Bush's plans concerning the third site for Washington's global missile defense system, which he said needed more analysis.