By RIA Novosti,
Madrid : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday rejected media reports that Washington had pledged to drop its Central European missile shield plans if Moscow helped resolve Iranian nuclear standoff.
“We are in correspondence, but no tradeoffs have been discussed, I assure you,” Medvedev, who is on an official visit to Spain, told a news conference in Madrid.
A number of media outlets, including the New York Times and Russian business daily Kommersant, reported Monday that a letter sent by Obama to Medvedev had stated that the US was ready to give up its plans to deploy missile shield elements in Central Europe in exchange for Russia’s assistance on the Iranian nuclear programme.
Medvedev, however, said the US’ readiness to address missile defence problems as a “positive sign”.
“If the new US administration shows common sense in this regard and proposes a new setup, one which would suit all Europeans, as well as the US itself, and which would, needless to say, also be acceptable to our country, we’d be ready to discuss it,” he said.