After previously announcing his intent to deploy Iskander missiles in the exclave of Kaliningrad, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took a more hopeful tone, saying he believes negotiations with the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama may be able to ease tense Russian-American relations.

Yesterday, President Medvedev seemed hopeful that the two nations would also enter into talks regarding the contentious missile base being built by the United States in Poland. Obama has declined to commit to finishing the base, but said he would support the project if the technology is proven workable.

The United States insists that the base is meant to counter an Iranian missile threat, in spite of the base being well outside the maximum range of even Iran’s best missile. The difficulties of getting lawmakers in Poland and the Czech Republic to approve the base over popular object has delayed construction, and it seems unlikely the first US missile will be in place before 2012.