CONSENSUS: OBAMA HANDS PUTIN A BIG WIN - AND GOT NOTHING IN RETURN

IRISH INDEPENDENT: Russians can't shield delight over US move

By Andrew Osborne in Moscow

Friday September 18 2009

VLADIMIR Putin will allow himself one of his trademark thin-lipped smiles this morning. Washington's decision to scrap plans for a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe is a strategic victory for the Kremlin.

Mr Putin had repeatedly said no to the US initiative, arguing it had unacceptable implications for Russia's security.

Widely trailed but highly significant, President Barack Obama's decision hands the Kremlin a coup that will boost Mr Putin's influence at home and abroad.

FT:

Obama's gambit threatens to open Nato rift with east Europe

By James Bliitz in London, Charles Cllover in Moscow and,Jan Cienski in Warsaw

Published: September 18 2009 03:00 | Last updated: September 18 2009 03:00

Barack Obama's decision to abandon US plans to site a missile defence shield in Europe may go some way to improving relations between America and Russia. But the risk to yesterday's move is that it will further undermine the uneasy relationship between Washington and the nations of central and eastern Europe.

BLOOMBERG:

Medvedev Welcomes Obama’s ‘Responsible’ Missile Shield Decision

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed the “responsible” decision of Barack Obama to drop a plan to deploy a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russia saw as threatening its security.

Obama yesterday said he was scrapping the proposal, championed by his predecessor George W. Bush in the face of Russian opposition, in favor of a more flexible system better able to protect against threats to the U.S. and its European allies, primarily from Iran.

Medvedev said conditions are “good” for Russian-U.S. cooperation on assessing the risks of missile proliferation, and that the two leaders will discuss the issue of “strategic stability,” including missile defense, in New York on Sept. 23 at the annual session of the United Nations General Assembly.

“We value the U.S. president’s responsible approach to implementing our agreements,” Medvedev said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday. “I’m ready to continue the dialogue.”

OBAMA SURRENDERED EASTERN EUROPE FOR HAPPY TALK FROM PUTIN.

HE'S SACRIFICING HONDURAS FOR CHAVEZ AND FIDEL.

WHAT AN ASS.

AND A TRAITOR TO THE WEST.