Russia, US need to solve missile shield impasse: Putin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for joint efforts by Russia and the US to address the thorny issue of a missile shield, Xinhua reported. In an interview with RT international news channel aired Thursday, Putin said it was necessary to continue the dialogue on the US missile defence programme in Europe.

But Putin was not sure whether Washington was "prepared for this kind of cooperation". Noting a willingness in US President Barack Obama to revive the missile talks, Putin said Obama was dragged down by "a military lobby in the Congress and the conservative State Department". "My feeling is that he (Obama) is a sincere man and he genuinely wants to implement positive changes. But can he do it? Will they let him do it?," Putin asked. Putin said that, if Obama was re-elected as president, it was possible for Russia and the US to solve the missile defence problem. Moscow has long been opposed to the deployment of US-led European missile defence facilities near its borders and called for legally binding guarantees from the US and NATO that the missile shield will not target Russia. In May, the Russian Defence Ministry threatened to destroy US missile defence facilities in Europe if Moscow considered them as real threats. IANS