Medvedev suggests Europe missile defence plan

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, will be asked to participate in the missile shield project at the Nato summit in Lisbon. The project aims to protect the countries involved – and more than 1bn people – from missile attack

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made no firm proposal to NATO about uniting their missile defence systems, a Russian ambassador said Friday after a report that the suggestion was rebuffed."I was present in the room ... Our president made no concrete proposal," Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said in reaction to a report about the alliance's meeting with the Russian leader at the Lisbon summit last week.

US President Barack Obama and his NATO allies agreed to shield Europe's peoples from rogue rocket attacks with a screen of interceptor missiles, and to invite Russia to take part.The deal commits NATO members to deploy a phalanx of anti-missile batteries to shoot down incoming missiles from any future enemy and urges Moscow to link its own defensive systems to the grid.Winning agreement on the shield also gave the NATO leaders a boost as they prepared for the second day of their Lisbon summit on Saturday, when they will try to agree a plan to end the Afghan war.

President Dmitry Medvedev warned Wednesday Russia could pull out a new nuclear disarmament treaty and enter a new Cold War with the West if the two sides failed to agree on a new missile defence shield.Medvedev told reporters that the United States' decision to push ahead with the European shield despite Russia's objections will force Moscow "to take response measures -- something that we would very much rather not do.""We would then be talking about developing the offensive potential of our nuclear capabilities. This would be a very bad scenario."

Russia's president Dmitry Medvedev rejected any suggestion that Moscow would 'trade or exchange' in order to dissuade the US from installing an anti ballistic missile system near its borders in Eastern Europe

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Friday against leaving Russia "outside the tent looking in" as the Atlantic Alliance goes ahead with plans to deploy a missile defence system in Europe."If we manage to create an inclusive missile defence system, it can reinforce a virtuous circle," he said in a speech in Rome."If Russia and other countries feel like they are inside the tent with the rest of us, rather than outside the tent looking in, it will build trust," he told military and business leaders at the Aspen Institute's Italian branch.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday hailed "strategic" ties with NATO-member Turkey as the two sides prepared to seal energy deals, including a plan to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant."Our relations have dramatically changed over the past years. Today they are strategic," Medvedev told a joint press conference with Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul."This is a very special day in Turkish-Russian relations," he said after overseeing the signing of cooperation accords in the fields of combating drug-trafficking, transport and education.

US President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev signed a landmark treaty Thursday committing to major nuclear arms cuts and made a joint warning to Iran to expect sanctions over its nuclear drive.The two presidents hailed the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) as opening a new era in ties, though Medvedev reaffirmed Russian opposition to the missile defence shield that the United States wants in Europe.