TOYAKO, Japan -- Russia will consider retaliatory steps but is open to talks after the United States signed a pact to build part of a missile-defense shield in the Czech Republic, President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
"We will not be hysterical about this, but we will think of retaliatory steps. ... We are not closed to further negotiations and we will continue these," Medvedev told a news briefing at a meeting of Group of Eight leaders in Japan on July 9.
"It is completely obvious that, after the signing of the agreement [with the Czech Republic], a new stage in implementing the idea of the missile shield has started. We are extremely upset by this situation," Medvedev said.