Russia to test Obama on missile shield

Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Rood said talks in Moscow this week that failed to narrow differences the missile shield plan suggested Russia was pausing to take stock of the Obama team.

"They have paused with the election of a new administration in the United States and they are looking carefully at the position of the new team," he told reporters.

"My assessment is that the Russians intend to test the mettle of the new administration and the new president," said Rood.

He said Russia's stance on the missile shield and other issues was "less flexible" than it had been in previous talks.

Russia rejects U.S. reasoning that interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic are needed to avert potential missile strikes from Iran.

Moscow says the project is targeted against it and has threatened to place missiles in its western enclave of Kaliningrad, near Poland.

Obama, who is to be sworn in as president on January 20, has said he would make sure any missile defence system has been proven to work before it is deployed.

Moscow, whose brief war with Georgia in August sent ties with Washington to the lowest level since the end of the Cold War, has tried to strike a positive tone on Obama since his election.

Early this month, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted "positive signals" from Obama and said the United States would quickly feel a change in attitude from Moscow if the new president transformed Washington's policies towards Russia.

The positive tone towards Obama has not been matched by any shift in Russia's opposition to U.S. plans to locate elements of its missile shield system in Europe, and Putin said he hoped the new president would cancel the proposals.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Sandra Maler)