Medvedev gives interview to Italian media

MOSCOW, July 6 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in
an interview with the Italian media during the weekend that unlike the
previous U.S. administration, the new U.S. President Barrack Obama and his
team were ready to discuss the deployment of the anti-missile defense
forces in Poland and the Czech Republic.

"I think we are capable of finding a reasonable solution:it will be
enough to show restraint and an ability to compromise," Medvedev told
Italian journalists.
"The Russian Federation is not against developing such means of
defense. But we think that they shouldn't be unilateral and they shouldn'
t, in essence, be targeted against a participant in a dialogue - against
the biggest nuclear power such as Russia," Medvedev went on to say.
"If we are to speak about anti-missile defenses, then these should be
measures of global protection against countries that are realistically
posing such a threat. And we are ready for this kind of dialogue with the
United States of America," the Russian president emphasized.
The Russian president said that the Russian-American relations had
started to revive.
"We all feel cautious optimism both the Russian and the American
sides," Medvedev said.
Apart from disarmament issues the agenda of his talks with President
Obama will include inter-regional conflicts, international financial
crisis, local conflicts and bilateral relations.
"We believe that neither the volume of investments nor the volume of
bilateral trade between Russia and the United States actually meet the
potential of our two countries," Medvedev explained.
"Therefore, in general, I feel cautious optimism. Of course the
outcome will speak for itself. The president and I will meet on Monday. We
will talk formally at negotiations and also informally. I think we will
get to know each other better. On the whole, it's going to be an important
and interesting event for the world and for those who follow the
international agenda," Medvedev said.
He pledged to develop relations with Iran as Russia's neighbor and
foreign policy partner.
"As for Iran's nuclear program, our position on it is the same as of
the other members of the nuclear club and those who discusses this issue.
Iran's nuclear program can be peaceful only under the IAEA aegis," the
Russian president explained.
"We will certainly continue developing normal relations with Iran, we
think it will be right. If we speak about problems, internal problems,
which Iran is facing today, our position is simple - let the Iranians
decide what's happening in their country, it's their internal affair. For
us it's important to see Iran as a stable country with which it's possible
to maintain international relations," Medvedev emphasized.
Speaking about North Korea and the launches of nuclear missiles,
President Medvedev said that at the moment it was arousing more concern
than Iran.
"As for North Korea, the situation which is unfolding there worries me
more than Iran because the latter is communicating with the world
community while North Korea has at the moment has broken off all its
contacts," Medvedev said.
"But we should search for ways and approaches to pull our North Korean
partners to dialogue because it's hard to me to imagine any other scenario
for the development of these events," the Russian president stressed.
But if anything happens it's going to be the worst scenario, according
to Medvedev.
"Therefore, in my view, there's no alternative to dialogue with North
Korea," Medvedev stressed.
Speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, President Medvedev noted
that the situation in that country was slightly different from the one
when the Soviet military contingent was present there.
He said that Russia wouldn't render any military assistance to the
allied troops in Afghanistan but would engage in anti-terror cooperation.
Medvedev said Russia was at the forefront of repelling several
challenges and threats coming from Afghanistan via Central Asia, including
the drug threat. In this sense, Russia's role is "extremely important and
we realize our responsibility in this area," Medvedev said.
He believes that just a military action again the Afghan militants
will be unable to bring any success.
"Success will accompany those who will help the Afghans to build their
own state, their own modern society with an emphasis, I stress, on Afghan
traditions and relatively developed economy. But if the talk is only about
using the armed forces and a military component, then it's a road into
nowhere because the situation is going to aggravate and deteriorate from
year to year," President Medvedev explained.