Russia had warned it would deploy Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave wedged between NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania, if Washington did not withdraw its controversial European missile shield plan.

"The realisation of these plans has been suspended in connection with the fact that the new American administration is not speeding up its plans" for missile defence facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic, an official from Russia's military headquarters told the Interfax news agency.

"Russia does not need to place Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad if a US missile defence shield is not going to put fear into eastern Europe," the official added.

There was no confirmation from a military spokesman.

US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said he had seen reports of the decision but was not aware that any Russian officials had directly informed their US counterparts of it.

"I'm not aware that we've actually been directly contacted (by the Russians), but I'm just saying it's a positive development if, indeed, that is the case," Wood said.

US ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker added that "if true, this would of course be a very positive step," according to his spokeswoman.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, also welcomed the decision.

"I welcome this change in the attitude of Russia, I hope that Moscow has recognised that its position has been detrimental," said Schwarzenberg on the sidelines of an EU-Afghanistan summit.

Moscow has repeatedly expressed fury with the plans of former US president George W. Bush to install the missile shield facilities in the Czech Republic and Poland, saying it threatened Russia's national security.

The United States said its plans to build a radar base in the Czech Republic and install interceptor missiles in Poland were not directed against Russia but aimed at countering what it described as a missile threat from "rogue states" such as Iran.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said late last year that the short-range Iskander missiles would be installed in Kaliningrad to "neutralize" the threat posed by the US missile defence system.

He chose to make that announcement on November 5, the very day when Obama was celebrating his stunning presidential election victory.

But independent military commentator Alexander Goltz noted that there had never been any serious steps to actually deploy the missiles.

"Russia has not suspended the deployment but it's thinking about a deployment. There was never any actual deployment, so it's a laughable statement," he said.

Despite the confidence expressed by the Russian official that the United States is sidelining the missile defence plans, Obama has yet to make clear whether he will press ahead with the strategy.

Poland, which was alarmed by the Russian threat, reacted coolly to the official's comments. "It comes from an anonymous source and must first be confirmed," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP.

Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said that in any case there were doubts about the missile shield in the United States and about the accuracy of the Iskanders in Russia.

"This is our signal to Washington that we are ready to find solutions, compromises and to enter into dialogue."

"A mutual suspension is possible -- in fact it is the easiest part of dialogue and detente with the United States."

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted another high-ranking military official as saying that the idea of putting the missiles in Kaliningrad had never been anything more than a plan.

Russian officials have repeatedly said in recent weeks that they have heard "positive signals" from Obama and hope that relations will recover from the post-Cold War lows reached during the last year of the Bush presidency.

But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has warned of raising hopes too high, saying that "the biggest disappointments are born out of big expectations."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Obama and Medvedev might have their first meeting on the sidelines of the G20 group of countries on April 2 in London.

"We think that our (Russia-US) relations will start anew, " Lavrov told the upper house of parliament Wednesday, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

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