Mr. Putin, who is now prime minister, had said that deploying parts of the shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, countries that were once part of the Warsaw Treaty, would undermine Russia's security.
He lobbied hard for the United States to deploy part of its controversial shield against ballistic missiles in Poland, arguing that it would enhance Poland's security against Russia.
Its relations with Iran are also strained, especially as Ankara agreed last month to deploy part of the U.S. missile defense shield on its territory.
Israel has deployed part of a new missile-defence system, which is designed to be more effective than the American Patriot system that had little success in stopping Iraqi Scud missiles in the 1991 Gulf War.
BERLIN — The United States and the Czech Republic signed a landmark accord on Tuesday to allow the Pentagon to deploy part of its widely debated antiballistic missile shield on territory once occupied by Soviet troops.
Russia has in the past threatened to place missiles in Kaliningrad — a small area with a population of nearly one million that is sandwiched between two European Union countries, Poland and Lithuania — in response to NATO's plans to deploy part of its missile shield in Eastern Europe.
Sunjammer mission successfully deployed part of its huge solar sail in a test on Sept. 30, revealing the craft should be ready to function successfully following its January 2015 launch.
At the meeting, NATO discussed the controversial issue of U.S. plans to deploys parts of a missile shield in Eastern Europe.
Russia had strongly opposed the decision by the Bush administration to deploy parts of its anti-ballistic missile system in Poland, which led to sharp tensions between Warsaw and Moscow.
When Mr. Obama decided last year to drop plans to deploy parts of the shield system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the Kremlin scaled down its oratory on the matter.
