Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP Photo
Should President Barack Obama consider his hand slapped? After word leaked earlier today that he had sent Russian President Dmitri Medvedev a letter offering to halt the construction of a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe in exchange for Russia’s cooperation in pressuring Iran to quit its nuclear program, Medvedev appears to have rejected an outright quid pro quo. “If we are talking about some sort of trade or exchange, then I can say that the question cannot be put that way. It’s not productive,” Medvedev said. But he added “what we are receiving from our American partners is evidence of one thing at least, that they are willing to discuss this problem, which is already good, because just a few months ago we were receiving different signals.”