Russia Hopes For Better Relations With Obama

Putin and Medvedev both reaffirmed that Russia will scrap its plan to deploy short-range Iskander missiles in its westernmost Kaliningrad region, if the United States cancels its plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic.

Medvedev threatened to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad in a speech a day after Obama's election.

"If the new U.S. administration refrains from intention to set up missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, there will be no need for our retaliatory measures," Putin said Monday in televised remarks. "In that case, it will be possible to overcome the current negative trends on the European continent."

Russia has seen the U.S. plans as a threat to its nuclear forces, dismissing Washington's assertions that the missile defense sites are intended to counter a potential Iranian missile threat.

Medvedev said that a conversation between Obama and Polish President Lech Kaczynski earlier this month had shown that the new U.S. administration is still weighing what action to take on the issue.

Kaczynski first claimed that Obama had promised Poland he would continue the Bush administration's missile defense program, but then backtracked on his statement after an aide to Obama denied Kaczynski's original claim.

"It shows that our American partners, our future partners, are thinking about it and don't have a once-and-for all stereotype for dealing with this problem," Medvedev said. "If so, a dialogue is possible, a change in position and, ultimately, a reversal is possible. We shall live and see."