Medvedev welcomes U.S. shield stance

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MOSCOW, May 5 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says he welcomes a willingness by the United States to discuss its Central European missile defense plans.

Speaking Tuesday at at a meeting with A Just Russia party activists near Moscow, Medvedev said U.S. President Barack Obama has shown he's willing to take Russia's objections to the planned deployment of an anti-missile shield in Central Europe into consideration, RIA Novosti reported.

"I am pleased that our American partners are showing willingness to discuss this issue rather than take a stubborn stance and deploy (the shield) no matter what," Medvedev said. "Missile defenses (in Europe) are not the best idea proposed by the previous U.S. administration … it is an idea that was adopted without consulting certain NATO and EU institutions."

The Bush administration pushed the plans to deploy missile shield elements in the Czech Republic and Poland to guard against what it said was the danger of missile strikes by "rogue states" such as Iran, but Russia considered the move to be a threat to its security, analysts say.