Russia's Medvedev hails U.S. missile decision

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Thursday said he valued a decision by the United States to shelve plans for a missile defense system in Europe and said Moscow was ready for further dialogue.

President Barack Obama Thursday dumped a Bush-era missile defense plan for Europe that Russia had bitterly opposed.

"We value the U.S. president's responsible approach toward implementing our agreements," Medvedev said in an address shown on national television. "I am ready to continue the dialogue."

The Kremlin chief said he would discuss missile defense with Obama at a meeting in New York on September 23.

"We will have a good opportunity to exchange views on all aspects of strategic stability, including anti-missile defense," Medvedev said.

"I believe that we will proceed with giving orders to the respective bodies in our two countries to step up cooperation, including on attracting European and other interested nations," he said.

"We will work together to forge efficient measures to counter the risks of missile proliferation, measures that would allow us to take into account the interests and concerns of all parties and ensure equal security for all the nations in the European arena," Medvedev said.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Dmitry Solovyov)