President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia, said he would be willing to debate the missile defense shield with Washington, however, negotiations that may be with regard to Iran would “not be productive.”

The Russian president said he welcomed “positive signals” coming from President Obama, which he hoped would settle an “agreement.” He also added the “haggling would not be effective,” but the Obama letter did not “present the issue in such a way,” according to some news sources.

Tuesday afternoon Obama responded to the Times publication of the secret letter to the Russian president saying it was uncharacteristic of the letter he intended: “What I said in the letter was that, obviously, to the extent that we are lessening Iran’s commitment to nuclear weapons, then that reduces the pressure for — or the need for a missile-defense system,” said President Obama.

Times had reported that the letter suggested the Russian administration should join the United States in the front against the potentially nuclear threat Iran.

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