Obama defends new missile defense policy, says not about Russia

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday defended his decision to take new missile shield policy in Europe, claiming his decision is not about Russia.

Scrapping missile shield sweeps obstacles to "resetting" Russian-U.S. ties

"We have made a decision about what will be best to protect the American people as well as our troops in Europe and our allies," Obama said in an interview with CNN.

"If the byproduct of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that's a bonus," Obama said.

Obama on Thursday announced abandon of the Bush-era controversial missile defense shield program in Eastern Europe, but unveiled a "phased, adaptive approach" for missile defense in the continent.

"This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program," Obama said at a brief news conference in the White House.

U.S. officials said the Obama administration would instead use Patriot missiles and newly developed SM-3 missiles that intercept enemy launches before an offensive missile enters the atmosphere to contend with an Iranian threat.