Obama: No 'quid pro quo' in letter

WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- A letter sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev concerning a U.S. missile shield and Iran was mischaracterized in the media, President Obama said Tuesday.

"What we had was a very lengthy letter talking about a whole range of issues, from nuclear proliferation to how are we going to deal with a set of common security concerns along the Afghan border and terrorism," Obama said during a media availability with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "And what I said in the letter is the same thing that I've said publicly, which is that the missile defense that we have talked about deploying is directed toward not Russia, but Iran."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also said Tuesday he has received no U.S. offer to drop its European missile shield defense plan in exchange for help with Iran.

A number of U.S. newspapers and Russian news outlets reported Obama offered to drop plans for a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic if Russia would dissuade Iran from pursuing its nuclear program.

Obama said the letter was mischaracterized in the Times article "as some sort of quid pro quo."

"It was simply a statement of fact that I've made previously, which is that the missile defense program, to the extent that it is deployed, is designed to deal with not a Russian threat, but an Iranian threat," he said.

Medvedev said "no trade-offs have been discussed, I assure you," during a news conference in Madrid, RIA Novosti reported.

The plan to build a radar facility in the Czech Republic and deploy interceptor missiles in Poland was a top priority for Bush to deter "rogue nations" such as Iran.