Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with French daily Le Figaro published on Thursday that Russia would be willing to abandon its plans to deploy short-range missiles near Poland if the U.S. agrees not to set up a missile shield in Central Europe.
Gates, speaking at a NATO-Ukraine meeting in Estonia, said Medvedev's recent threat to deploy Iskander missiles in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad was "hardly the welcome a new American administration deserves," and that "such provocative remarks are unnecessary and misguided."
He said Medvedev's proposal that both countries abandon their missile plans was not "credible".
"As we try to make clear, Russia has nothing to fear from a defensive missile shield or for that matter from the presence of democratic nations on its periphery," he said. "Rather than engaging in the kind of rhetoric associated with a bygone era, the United States would prefer that Russia works with us to combat mutual security threats."
After Barack Obama's presidential election victory in the U.S. last week, one of his senior foreign policy advisers, Denis McDonough, said the president-elect was not committed to the missile shield, and would only continue with the project if its effectiveness was proven.
Gates, appointed by outgoing President George W. Bush, has reportedly received the backing of several members of Obama's transition team to retain his post as defense secretary, as the new leader seeks to build a diverse administration.
Washington said last Thursday it had provided new proposals to ease Russia's concerns over the planned deployment of 10 U.S. interceptor missiles in Poland and a tracking radar in the Czech Republic, which the Bush administration has said are needed to counter possible attacks from Iran's long-range missiles.
Russia views the missile defense system as a threat to its national security, and has said that a security agreement based on respect for common interests would remove the need for a missile shield.
