WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Barack Obama on Sunday denied that ''paranoid'' objections from Russia influenced his decision to abandon plans by the former Bush administration to site a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

''Russia had always been paranoid about this, but George Bush was right, this wasn't a threat to them,'' Obama said in an interview on CBS show ''Face the Nation'' days before he is set to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the United Nations.

''This program will not be a threat to them. So my task here was not to negotiate with the Russians,'' Obama said, responding to claims by somedomestic critics that his move amounted to appeasement of confrontational Russian policies.

''The Russians don't make determinations about what our defense posture is. We have made a decision about what will be best to protect the American people as well as our troops in Europe and our allies,'' Obama said.

''If the by-product of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that's a bonus.''

Obama last week announced that he would shelve plans to site parts of a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, and instead deploy more mobile equipment targeting Iran's short and medium-range missiles.

The White House has denied it orchestrated a quid pro quo with Moscow by agreeing to halt work on the missile shield in a bid to win more cooperation on issues like Iran's nuclear program.

But foreign policy experts are closely watching to see whether Moscow offers any concessions following the US decision, as both sides seek to ''reset'' a relationship plagued by Cold War-style rhetoric in recent years.

Russia has broadly welcomed the US move.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday praised Obama's action as ''brave'' but called for more US measures to lift Soviet-era restrictions on the export of high technology to Russia and to help its World Trade Organization membership bid.

Obama and Medvedev will meet on Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with the Iranian nuclear showdown and joint efforts to agree cuts in strategic nuclear weapons also on the agenda.

The US president's decision on the missile shield means that Washington will not now deploy an anti-missile radar in the Czech Republic or missile interceptors in Poland.