U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said at a security conference in Munich on Saturday that the United States would continue to work on its plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe but would also consult Russia on this issue.
Asked by reporters about his response to Biden's speech yesterday, Ivanov said it "was very positive."
Ivanov said he especially liked Biden's statement that it was time to "press the reset button" in relations between Russia and the United States.
Russia has consistently opposed the missile shield as a threat to its national security and officials have repeatedly expressed the hope that President Barack Obama would not follow through with his predecessor's missile defense plans.
Washington has agreed with Warsaw and Prague plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic by 2013. The United States says the defenses are needed to deter possible strikes from "rogue states" such as Iran.
Ivanov said at the conference on Friday that the shield is aimed at Russia's nuclear deterrent, but added that Moscow would not follow through with its threat to deploy Iskander missile systems in the Kaliningrad Region if the United States gave up its missile shield plans.
