MUNICH (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday that President Barack Obama's new administration offered a “window of opportunity” to resolve deep divisions over U.S. missile shield plans in central Europe.

Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, sealed deals last year to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, moves that Moscow says threaten its security.
In November, a day after Obama was elected, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he would order the deployment of Iskander missile systems to Russia's western outpost of Kaliningrad, near the Polish border.
Speaking at the start of the Munich Security Conference, an annual meeting of leaders to discuss foreign policy, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Medvedev was ready to reverse course if Washington reviewed its shield plans.
“President Medvedev from the very start said very clearly and unequivocally that if there are no interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic as was planned by the previous administration, clearly, there will be no Iskanders in Kaliningrad,” Ivanov said.
A Russian news agency, quoting the Russian military, reported last week that Moscow had halted plans to deploy the Iskander missiles. But Ivanov is the first senior Russian to confirm that the Kremlin could go down that route.
The Bush administration said the missile shield was targeted at enemy states but Ivanov said it aimed to deter Russia's nuclear missile potential.
With a new U.S. president, he said a “new situation” had emerged.
“It's a window of opportunity,” Ivanov said.
He said Moscow was eager to continue talks on the shield and was open to a joint assessment of threats with the United States, as well as intensifying dialogue on disarmament treaties.