Election Over, Obama Issued 1st Challange by Russian President

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev took advantage of the blind euphoria in the U.S. today to order the deployment of missiles inside Europe as a response to America's plans for a missile defense shield.

His announcement prompted a burst of applause from government ministers and parliamentary deputies assembled in the Kremlin.

Medvedev failed to congratulate Obama or even to mention him by name during his 85-minute state of the nation address televised live across Russia.

In his only reference to the U.S. election, Medvedev said that he hoped the new administration would work to repair its relationship with Moscow. He said: "I stress that we have no problem with the American people, no inborn anti-Americanism. And we hope that our partners, the US administration, will make a choice in favor of full-fledged relations with Russia."

In a criticism directed at the U.S., Medvedev said: "Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community."

Medvedev basically challenged the U.S. to negotiate on Russian terms.

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