Russia says ready to talk missile defense with U.S.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia is ready to discuss existing missile defense programs with the United States, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday, signaling an easing in Russia's outright opposition to U.S. plans.

"We will not do anything until America does the first step," Medvedev said about Russia's promised response to U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

"I think we have a chance to solve the problem through either agreeing on a global (anti-missile) system or, as a minimum, to find solution on the existing programs which would suit the Russian Federation," he said.

"(The) first signal we received (from the incoming Barack Obama administration) shows that our partners think about this program rather than plan to simply rubber-stamp it," Medvedev added.

(Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Peter Cooney)