US: Missile defense plan not impediment to treaty with Russia

Washington says a US missile defense plan in Europe would not stop the United States and Russia from reaching a new treaty to reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that the plan is not an impediment, adding that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had not raised the issue as an obstacle in a recent phone conversation with US counterpart, Barack Obama.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs jokingly refers to a list written on his hand during a briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (AFP/Mandel Ngan)