Special to WorldTribune.com

Compiled by Miles Yu, Geostrategy-Direct.com

Vladimir Putin was sworn in Monday to be Russian president for a six-year term following a controversial election.

The first thing Putin wanted was a guarantee from the U.S. that its missile defense system would not be used against Russia.

That puts the Obama administration in a difficult position because of election year politics in the U.S.

In 2010, Obama and then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed a nuclear arms limitations pact.

But Russia has wanted more. It demands that Washington discontinue the planned installation of a European missile defense shield, which it sees as a prelude to a U.S.-operated global missile defense network.

Obama was overheard through a live microphone in Seoul a few weeks ago asking Medvedev to understand his difficulty concerning missile defense negotiations during the election year.

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  Dmitri Medvedev, European missile defense shield, nuclear arms limitations pact, Obama administration, Putin presses offensive against U.S. missile defense network