Russia said to back off missile threat

A Russian military official said on Wednesday that Moscow was backing off a threat to deploy missiles near Poland, according to a report that may have been aimed at testing President Barack Obama's intent to build a European missile shield.

The private Interfax news agency cited an unidentified armed forces general staff official as saying Russia has suspended implementation of plans to deploy Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave because the Obama administration is not pushing hard to build an interceptor site next door in Poland.

A Kremlin official told The Associated Press that the Interfax report erroneously implied that Russia had been taking action, now suspended, to place missiles in Kaliningrad. The official reiterated that President Dmitry Medvedev has said Russia would only send Iskanders there if the US presses ahead with plans for missile interceptors in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic.