LONDON, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday there is a good chance Russia
will not have to place Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad
Region in response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe.
"We had a talk on this issue with the U.S. president. At a
minimum I can say that today the U.S. has a desire to listen to
our argument. They are not trying to cut off [talks] and say
that the decision has already been made," Medvedev said in a
speech at the London School of Economics.
Russia has consistently opposed the missile shield as a
threat to its national security and the president said last
November that it would deploy Iskander-M missiles in the
country's westernmost exclave of Kaliningrad, which borders
NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the shield was put into
operation.
Medvedev said that financing the missile defense system in
its present form would be "a mistake" that would remain on the
Bush administration's conscience, adding that both countries
would make every effort "to find a way out of this difficult
situation."
Washington has agreed with Warsaw and Prague on plans 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.
Top Russian officials have repeatedly expressed their hope
that President Obama will not follow through with the missile
defense plans of his predecessor, George W. Bush.
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