MADRID, March 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president
denied on Tuesday media reports claiming that Washington had
pledged to drop its Central European missile shield plans if
Moscow helped resolve Iran's controversial nuclear program.
A number of media outlets, including the New York Times
and Russian business daily Kommersant, reported on Monday that
a letter sent by Obama to Medvedev had stated that the U.S. was
ready to give up its plans to deploy missile shield elements in
Central Europe in exchange for Russia's assistance on the
Iranian nuclear program.
"We are in correspondence, but no tradeoffs have been
discussed, I assure you," Dmitry Medvedev told a news
conference in Madrid.
Medvedev said however on Tuesday that he viewed the United
States' readiness to address missile defense problems as a
positive sign.
"If the new U.S. administration shows common sense in this
regard and proposes a new setup, one which would suit all
Europeans, as well as the U.S. itself, and which would,
needless to say, also be acceptable to our country, we'd be
ready to discuss it," he said.
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