barack obama has denied that objections from Russia influenced his decision to abandon the previous administration's plans to site a missile defence system in Eastern Europe.
Barack Obama said in an interview aired on American television station CBS on Sunday that it would be a "bonus" if the decision to scrap the plan eased co-operation with Russia.
"The Russians don't make determinations about what our defence posture is. We have made a decision about what will be best to protect the American people as well as our troops in Europe and our allies," Obama said on the show "Face the Nation". The previous US administration under George Bush, Obama's predecessor, had planned the missile shield in Europe as the first line of defence against any attack from Iran. Russia had condemned the project as a threat to its security despite years of US assurances to the contrary.
"If the by-product of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that's a bonus." Obama on Thursday announced that the US was scrapping plans to place the missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. Alternative plan The Bush administration had pushed hard for the shield, arguing that Iran was developing long-range missiles alongside its controversial nuclear programme. Obama said that instead of a shield, there will be a different missile-defence plan relying on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air. His announcement raised questions of whether the decision was done in part to appease Russia and win its help in other areas, mainly in confronting the potential of a nuclear-armed Iran. Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, on Friday praised Obama's decision as "brave."
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