MOSCOW. April 26 (Interfax) - The missile defense question is not closed; Russia and the United States still have five to seven years to solve it, President Dmitry Medvedev told Russian television on Thursday.
"The question is not closed; it must be resolved. Hopefully, we will make progress in the upcoming years. There are five to seven years left for making final decisions," he said.
"If no progress is made, we will have to deploy missiles. We cannot avoid doing that," he said.
Moscow and Washington still differ over missile defense, Medvedev said. "We are convincing [the U.S.] not to break up the strategic parity. They say 'yes, yes, yes, we will bear your interests in mind' but keep pushing their position," he said.
At the same time, Medvedev thinks that Russia-U.S. relations are on the rise. "The past four years were the best in the entire history of Russia- U.S. relations," he said.