U.S., Russia inch ahead on missile shield

MOSCOW, July 6 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Monday to work through their disagreements on a U.S. missile defense system in Europe.

During a joint news conference, the two said they would continue discussions on a George W. Bush administration push to establish a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Obama said he thought it was "entirely legitimate" for U.S.-Russian discussions to include talks about offensive and defensive weapons systems.

Obama said his administration was reviewing the configuration as presented and expected results available by the end of summer, providing the Russian government a copy of the U.S. assessment.

"(What) we would like to do is to work with Russia to advance a system that ensures that a stray missile (or missiles) coming from a third source -- that we had the capabilities to prevent those from doing damage," Obama said. "I think we can arrive at those kinds of understandings, but it's going to take some hard work because it requires breaking down long-standing suspicions."

He sought to reassure Russia that the missile defense system was not aimed at Moscow.

"There's no scenario from our perspective in which this missile defense system would provide any protection against a mighty Russian arsenal," Obama said.

Medvedev said the link between offensive and defensive weapons "already constitutes a step forward."

"I would like to point out especially that our American partners, unlike what was happening in recent years, have taken a pause and now are studying this situation," Medvedev said "As a result of this, they will formulate their final position. ... (This) this is also a step forward in reaching possible compromise on this fairly difficult subject."