Romney's hostile words prove Russia's correctness on missile defense issues: Putin

MOSCOW, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's tough words on Russia proved the correctness of Russia's attitude toward missile defense issues, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.

"He reaffirms the correctness of our stance on the missile defense issues... He strengthened our positions at negotiations on sensitive and important issues," Putin told reporters after talks with visiting Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi.

The president thanked Romney for being so straightforward, but urged Russia to "bear in mind" the hostile attitude of Romney in solving security and missile defense problems with the United States.

"Even if he does not win now, he or a person with similar views may take the power in four years, and we must keep that in mind while solving security problems in the long prospect," Putin said.

As for cooperation with Romney if he is elected, Putin said Russia would still interact with the U.S. candidate, though he has called Moscow the "top enemy" of Washington.

Putin said last week that he would cooperate with anyone elected by the American people.

Moscow has long been opposed to the deployment of U.S.-led European missile defense facilities near its borders and called for legally binding guarantees from the United States and NATO that the missile shield will not target Russia. Enditem