Lavrov: Obama plans are no risk for Russia

KHARKOV, Ukraine, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama's plan for a missile shield does not affect Russia as the former U.S. plan for Eastern Europe did, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Lavrov, on a visit to Ukraine, said Wednesday the U.S. decision to give up a plan to install radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland opens the way for negotiations between Russia and the United States, the Novosti news agency reported.

"The new plan put forward by the Obama administration to replace the project to deploy the Third Missile Defense Site offers good conditions for dialogue, and according to our assessments, does not pose the risks that were generated by the Third Missile Defense Site project," Lavrov said.

Russia has already announced it will not deploy Iskander-M missiles in the Kalinigrad region, the Russian enclave bordering Poland and Lithuania. President Dmitry Medvedev announced last year the missiles would be deployed there in response to the Bush administration's plans for the Eastern European missile shield.