PITTSBURGH, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday he decided against deploying Iskander missiles in Russia's Kaliningrad Region, near Poland, after the U.S. shelved its nuclear missile shield plans for Europe.
"At the moment when I voiced this idea, I said that we [Russia] would deploy Iskander missiles in response to the [U.S.] decision on the implementation of the Third Site. Considering that this decision has been cancelled, it is obvious that I have decided not to deploy Iskander missiles in the Russian [Kaliningrad] region," Medvedev said at a news conference following the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.
Obama announced last week that Washington would not deploy a radar in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland, due to a re-assessment of the threat from Iran. Moscow fiercely opposed the plans as a national security threat.
In response the U.S. missile shield in Europe plans, proposed the George W. Bush administration, President Medvedev said last November that Russia would deploy Iskander-M missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania, if the shield was put into operation.
